Cannabis Planet

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Anyone who doubts the mainstreaming of the cannabis industry might want to skip "Letterman" and check out "Cannabis Planet." The weekly program, premiering in the Bay Area at midnight Friday on KOFY-TV, intends to promote the benefits of marijuana, but viewers shouldn't tune in expecting "KOFY and Bong Hits."

No bong hits? Duuuuude...

The show is structured around a pair of cannabis news anchors (yes, one of them has dreadlocks) and a mashup of educational segments, such as cooking demonstrations for hemp smoothies and medicated chicken stir-fry, and cannabis cultivation tips with marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal.

Lane pays KOFY to put "Cannabis Planet" on the air, like an infomercial, and generates revenue by running ads during the show for companies that produce grow lights, plant food and other products geared toward the cannabis industry. His operational philosophy is "Fuel, food, fiber, medicine," and he's bent on showing the public that medical marijuana isn't just for those with serious illnesses. He claims cannabis can alleviate everything from menstrual cramps to sleep disorders, and personally uses marijuana to curb attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, from which he's suffered since his days in Montessori school.

KJLA-TV, which reaches most of Southern California, first aired the Los Angeles-based show in July of last year and is now presenting season two to roughly 40,000 viewers each week. [...]

"Cannabis Planet" hits the Bay Area at a time when local medical marijuana advocates are divided over how best to push the agenda of full, statewide legalization. Richard Lee, founder of the pioneering cannabis college Oaksterdam University in Oakland is sponsoring an initiative to tax and regulate marijuana across the state. He recently turned in more than 700,000 signatures backing the measure to county voter registries, making its place on the forthcoming November ballot all but certain. Rallying political support for legalization during an election year, however, could be difficult, and some legalization advocates believe the new ballot measure is too restrictive.

"It's going backwards," says Dennis Peron, who co-authored Prop 215 in 1996, legalizing medical marijuana in California. "If you're 18 to 21, you can't smoke. It's continuing prohibition passing itself off as legalization."

You're not supposed to drink alcohol at that age either, numbnuts. Doesn't seem to stop anybody from doing it. Stuff that gets your head is for people that have one, i.e. 'adults'. To equate legal adult use to 'prohibition' is nonsense.

Legitimacy, though, is exactly what Lane is striving for. Next month, "Cannabis Planet" is sponsoring a vehicle in NASCAR's K&N Series (wiki and, of course, Facebook), where the first medical-cannabis car will race alongside cars sponsored by alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies.

Let's not have any "why d'ya think they call it dope" jokes about NASCAR or motor racing in general, please. This is mainstream American entertainment, folks.

I use K&N Filters in everything (except two-strokes). I wonder if they'll make bong or vape filters to trap the sludge and let the goodness through. You could have all your friends over for a filter-cleaning party. Heh.

It's high time, you should pardon the pun, to legalize the adult use of marijuana and turn an entire class of criminals back into law-abiding citizens.

Perhaps your local indie or cable-access station would be interested in this program.