| Cannabis Planet |
A television show themed around medical marijuana, including growing tips and recipes, will debut in San Diego tonight.
Tonight’s episode of “Cannabis Planet” will include a segment critical of the heavy-handed raids carried out against local dispensaries last fall, reports Eleanor Yang Su of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“We’re fighting for safe and legal access for the medical cannabis community,” said Brad Lane, creator and executive producer of the new show. “In San Diego, there’s been some draconian measures by law enforcement officials against the cannabis community.”
The office of San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis claims to support medical marijuana patients — “Nobody in law enforcement is targeting legitimate medical marijuana users,” claimed Paul Levikow, spokesman for the D.A.’s office — yet Dumanis has been quoted as saying she knows of no legal dispensaries in the county.
| Photo: Stephen Carr/Long Beach Press Telegram |
| Brad Lane: “We’re fighting for safe and legal access for the medical cannabis community” |
”Cannabis Planet” producer Lane, who has been using marijuana daily for 28 years to cope with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), said he sees the show as a way to inform the masses about the beneficial properties of cannabis.
In addition to its medical benefits, hemp is a food source with healthy omega-3 fats, and has many industrial applications, according to Lane.
Lane’s show has already been airing since July in the Los Angeles market on independent station KJLA-TV. Lane said the expansion to San Diego is part of a plan to take the show to a national level.
Lane said he is negotiating with stations in San Francisco, Sacramento and Denver to begin airing in those markets by the end of March.
“Cannabis Planet” has a certain charming amateurish quality, which Lane readily admits. His production company rents studio space in L.A. to film each 30-minute segment, including the commercials.
The show will air at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays on Cox Cable Channel 14, and will be available to Cox subscribes in San Diego, the South Bay and East County.
According to Lane, the first 13 episodes airing in San Diego will consist mostly of material that has already run in Los Angeles. By April, at least four minutes of each program will feature San Diego material, Lane said.
The producer said he hopes “Cannabis Planet” will help change the perception that marijuana is just for hippies or the terminally ill.
“It’s college-educated people who are responsible members of the community who are using cannabis,” Lane said. “It’s auto mechanics, bankers, lawyers, doctors, schoolteachers. They’re normal people. The more people come out of the proverbial cannabis closet, the more we become socially acceptable.”