Film Presentation

PATRICIA CRONE, one of the most influential scholars in the field of Islamic history and a professor of Islamic history at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2011, when the cancer had already spread to her brain.  She was busy preparing for the end when she saw that the National Cancer Institute described some of the chemicals in marijuana as having cancer-fighting potential.  With only grim prospects for the future, she wanted to try it.

So Patricia, who had never had as much as a puff of pot, started a hunt for marijuana and for credible evidence of its medicinal potential.

DIANA C FRANK, Patricia's sister and a documentary filmmaker, accompanied her all the way, and early on they decided to film the whole odyssey.

US federal law still considers cannabis without medical value and puts it in the same category as heroin.  It is a crime to possess it.  The clash between science and the law made Patricia's journey hazardous, but she acquired enough marijuana to start her very own human trial.

Forging ahead in a world of hope, obstacles, fear and contradictions, she rarely lost courage and never her sense of humour.  But do the risks she takes prolong her life?

Further information about Patricia Crone can be found on the following websites:

http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21660065-patricia-crone-scholar-early-islam-and-campaigner-medical-marijuana-died-july-11th
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/us/patricia-crone-scholar-of-islamic-history-dies-at-70.html?_r=0
https://www.opendemocracy.net/judith-herrin/patricia-crone-brief-memoir
https://www.ias.edu/news/patricia-crone-obituary
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/people/obituary-patricia-crone-1945-2015
https://www.princeton.edu/nes/news/archive/index.xml?id=15304
http://www.iranicaonline.org/pages/patricia-crone-obituary

Further details about the film itself can be found at: http://www.forthelifeofmefilm.com/