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A Popular Plant Is Spreading Across TV Screens
Posted by CN Staff on September 14, 2009 at 17:08:07 PT
By Brian Stelter
Source: New York Times
Los Angeles -- Tips for cultivating marijuana. Testimonials by patients about its medical benefits. Cannabis cooking lessons. Even citations for award-winning strains of pot. Viewers here can now watch, every week, what amounts to a pro-weed news program.Booted off one skittish TV station but quickly picked up by another, the low-budget “Cannabis Planet” show is televised evidence of how entrenched marijuana has become in California’s cultural firmament and a potent example of the way the pot subculture has been edging into the national mainstream.
“We’re trying to show the legitimacy of this plant,” said Brad Lane, the executive producer of the half-hour program.Mr. Lane pays for the twice-weekly air time on the independent station KJLA — Thursday and Saturday nights at 11:30, sandwiched between “Bikini Beach” and “Jewelry Central” — and says he is now breaking even, almost two months after the show’s premiere. “Cannabis Planet” focuses on medical, agricultural and industrial uses of the hemp plant, purposely ignoring marijuana’s recreational aspects. Viewers, for instance, see very little actual smoking, even though the hosts and producers are known to inhale between takes. “We’re walking on eggshells here, to be honest,” Mr. Lane said.Still, “Cannabis Planet” remains on the air — with not a single complaint from viewers, according to the station.Marijuana use has been depicted in the media for decades, though its presence has waxed and waned over the decades, from Cheech & Chong’s comedy albums and films in the late 1970s and early ’80s through more recent pot-centric efforts like Dave Chappelle’s “Half-Baked” and Seth Rogen’s “Pineapple Express.” On television, though, it has rarely risen above the level of a plot device or punch line — until recently.Medical marijuana is now legal in 14 states, and the lobbying organization Norml says efforts to legalize it are under way in 15 other states. Marijuana use remains illegal under federal law, but in a break from prior policies, the Obama administration said in February that federal officials would stop raiding dispensaries of medical marijuana authorized under state law.Since then the number of dispensaries in California has surged in what some call a “green rush.”“It’s really blown up,” said Jay Peterson, a production executive at Original Productions, which is working with Blue Dream Media to create a reality show set at a pot collective, or distribution center, in Hollywood. The show, “Top Bud,” is envisioned as a cross between “LA Ink,” the TLC show produced by Original about a lively tattoo parlor, and “Weeds,” the Showtime hit drama about a dope-dealing mother of two.“While the drug is illegal in most states, the idea is to show that there’s a world somewhere where it’s legal, and where people are doing this,” Mr. Peterson said.The producers are now trying to sell “Top Bud” to networks. Mr. Peterson acknowledged there was some hesitancy at first but said his company already had “solid interest.”There are similar stirrings in the scripted TV world. On “Glee,” Fox’s new high school musical, one of the characters is a medical marijuana dealer. At the New York Television Festival next week one of the competing pilot projects seeking a TV network home will be “Rx,” a drama set in the medical marijuana world.A rash of recent news reports have documented the mainstreaming of pot, citing among other examples frequent drug references in the media and endorsements by a growing list of celebrities. This month Fortune magazine’s cover asks: “Is Pot Already Legal?” CNBC repeats its eight-month-old documentary about the pot business, “Marijuana Inc.,” at least once a week; it continues to be rated one of the channel’s most popular documentaries.Mr. Lane’s inspiration for “Cannabis Planet” came from a more practical place: he noticed an increasing number of ads in local newspapers for medical cannabis. “It was the only market segment that I saw growing,” he said during dinner at a faded Chinese restaurant on Pico Boulevard.Mr. Lane has produced on-demand TV shows about snowboarding and surfing for several years. Tired of what he called “the demonization of the cannabis plant,” he wanted to highlight pot’s uses as “fuel, fiber, food and medicine,” as he and his co-hosts often say. He first bought air time on KDOC, an independent station in Orange County, Calif., but in late July station officials apparently grew antsy about the subject matter. He recalled one employee telling him, “We’re a little concerned that the topic is too controversial,” and he was instructed to pull the advertising he had bought for the show. KDOC declined to comment.Mr. Lane promptly moved “Cannabis Planet” to KJLA, another independent station that reaches an estimated five million households in Southern California, which said it was happy to run the show, with a disclaimer about the content.A native Californian prone to statements like, "Did you know the War of 1812 was over hemp?," Mr. Lane said he had smoked pot since his sophomore year of college. He is now a medical marijuana user, he said, relying on the drug to curb attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.“Cannabis Planet” is beginning to turn a profit, Mr. Lane said, because of a growing list of advertisers, including companies that sell nutritional supplements for growers and recommend doctors. Now he wants to syndicate the series, he said, and is in talks with stations in San Diego and Denver.Mr. Lane’s show joins “Cannabis Common Sense,” a weekly cable program in Oregon that started in the late 1990s and is produced by a hemp advocacy group.Calvina Fay, the executive director of Drug Free America Foundation, said a weekly TV show extolling marijuana as harmless contributes to inappropriate public perceptions of the drug. “They are putting people’s lives in danger as they promote a toxic, harmful weed to sick people and intentionally ignore the harms of it," she said, adding that the drug had been “linked to a plethora of health problems."Mr. Lane, strenuously disagreeing with the antidrug groups, says his show exists to spread facts about cannabis. That is why he will not present information about recreational uses of marijuana for now.“Unfortunately, it is still perceived as offensive by too many people,” he said. A version of this article appeared in print on September 15, 2009, on page C1 of the New York edition.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Brian StelterPublished: September 14, 2009 Copyright: 2009 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/0FARE37BCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by Dankhank on September 18, 2009 at 09:08:57 PT
weed cards ....
for everyone .....or legal, then NO ONE needs one ...yea ... that's it ...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by josephlacerenza on September 17, 2009 at 11:06:18 PT
A song for C-News!!!!
Try this!!!!
Weed Card: New Garfunkel And Oate
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by FoM on September 15, 2009 at 12:49:06 PT
Hope
Strong but gentle. I agree.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Hope on September 15, 2009 at 12:21:52 PT
Patrick Swayze
His "Persona", to me, was that he'd fight if he had to, but by choice... he'd rather dance than fight.My kind of man.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 15, 2009 at 10:19:40 PT
Hope
Patrick Swayze was my idea of a very masculine man but with a gentle Spirit about him. We don't have too many like him around.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Hope on September 15, 2009 at 09:43:28 PT
Over twenty times!
You did have it bad!He'll be missed. He was a wonderful entertainer. We're so lucky in this day and age to have good recordings of beloved entertainers.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 15, 2009 at 09:04:45 PT
Hope
I watched it way over 20 times! LOL! I don't watch movies more then once most times but Dirty Dancing was so good and I loved the music.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by Hope on September 15, 2009 at 08:54:57 PT
FoM
It's hard to get me to watch a movie once. I watched Dirty Dancing at least six times. A mega record for me. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 15, 2009 at 08:36:01 PT
RevRayGreen
I loved Red Dawn. Darn Patrick Swayze was about my favorite actor. He was a horse lover like me too. He and his wife had beautiful Arabians.http://kingdomofhorses.com/myPictures/patrickswayze2.jpg
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by RevRayGreen on September 15, 2009 at 08:18:44 PT
I just looked over at a box of stuff in my room
and in it was a VCR tape of RED DAWN....I put it up on my
desk.....RIP 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 15, 2009 at 06:14:38 PT
Hope
I never watched a movie more times then I watched Dirty Dancing. It was a great movie for young people and those who are young at heart. We had 5,000 movies in our video store and of all of the movies we had Dirty Dancing rented more then any other movie. RIP Patrick. He made a lot of people smile. He wrote and sang She's Like The Wind.Dirty Dancing - She's Like the Windhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfg97-5uhFQ
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Comment #6 posted by Brandon Perera on September 14, 2009 at 20:50:53 PT
Pro-Marijuana Television
That is one of the greatest things I have heard in a while. All the Gov't commercials were ONLY kids sitting doing nothing at all not injuring themselves from P.E. in school. If Iowa had some pro cannabis television ads that would be pretty awesome. Obama's new health care plan hopefully has marijuana involved in it :)) SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT GROW MARIJUANA
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on September 14, 2009 at 20:36:11 PT
Mark702
That sounds great. TV is important.Vincent. C-News is a safe place, a haven, no doubt. I'm trying to think of some of the descriptions that have been used. "A port in the storm". "A sanctuary". "A safe place". "A haven". A "Meeting place for like minds with a common goal". A place where we can share and rant and just say whatever we need to say that might help or help us all keep going and not give up and certainly a place to keep up with the news, stay informed, and a place to learn from what's going on and from each other.FoM. I'm sad to hear that Patrick Swayze is gone. He did put up an amazing struggle against a dreaded killer and lasted longer than anyone ever imagined he would.I loved Dirty Dancing and The Time of My Life was my favorite, too. My heart just soars and I want to dance with joy every time I hear it.I wish our government would spend the money on finding cures for cancer and other diseases that they spend on prohibition and all it causes.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 14, 2009 at 18:36:18 PT
Vincent
When I started CNews all I want was a forum that people could find a place where it would be peaceful and positive. Hope is good for all of us and anger and hatred tears us to pieces. Life is too short to waste it.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Vincent on September 14, 2009 at 18:25:57 PT:
Cannabis Planet
Congratulations guys, this was an excellent, uplifting article. It is so nice to log on to this site to listen to intelligent opinions after visiting "Craig'slist Tampa Bay--politics" and, believe it or not, Facebook. I thought that Facebook was full of young, idealistic people. Perhaps it was but, it seems to have been hijacked by a bunch of ignorant racists. Facebook features some "polls" to vote on. When I vote on an issue there, a link is activated that shows the results which are ten to one against the President. It's so nice that I have a "safe" place like "Cannabis News" to visit.
This place is like a haven.By the way, in the article I noticed that Calvina "kill all pot smokers" Fay had to chime in. Oh well.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Mark702 on September 14, 2009 at 18:07:50 PT
Oregon - Cannabis TV
Here in Oregon we have Cannabis Common Sense airing each week.http://crrh.org/hemptvAnd that's just the beginning. We'll have 3 other series running each week as well:Cannabis Activism
Cannabis College
Hemp Industryhttp://roguetv.org/Page.asp?NavID=40Spread the word.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 14, 2009 at 17:22:03 PT
Patrick Swayze Dies at 57
RIP. I loved Dirty Dancing. He fought hard. Here's my favorite song from Dirty Dancing.Dirty Dancing - Time of my Life (Final Dance)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQoURL: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia88ac756513e0fd9f1a48bf2dd1408ff
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