Discovery to Introduce New Series ‘Weed Wars’; Premieres This Fall

[Harborside Health Center]

Reality TV coming to Oakland cannabis dispensary.
http://ht.ly/5Kf3E

 

[bottronics]

"The rumors of a four-episode series featuring the self-proclaimed biggest cannabis dispensary in America, has been confirmed. Discovery Channel will air the reality series, “Weed Wars,” about Oakland’s Harborside Health Center and the 80,000 patients it serves as well as it’s eccentric staff. Founder Steve DeAngelo believes once the country sees how this medicine helps sick and vulnerable people they will change their minds about the National laws. We think that’s a long shot…

“Weed Wars fearlessly pulls back the curtain on a once illegal and still controversial world,” said Nancy Daniels, Executive Vice President at the Discovery Channel. “From the inner workings of the business to Steve’s distinctive leadership style, Weed Wars is a fascinating glimpse into this highly unique setting. Like Gold Rush or Deadliest Catch, these are guys pursuing their own version of the American Dream.”​

What Executive VP Daniels fails to mention is Discovery Channel’s desire to be edgy, youthful and relevant to a younger market so they can widen the scope of their advertising partners. This is another case of cannabis as big business, your symptoms are not their concern. The channel’s profit margin is. DeAngelo expands his brand, and increases exposure to Bay Area residents, but what about this is genuine activism to further our cause? Nothing. That’s why it won’t reach hearts and minds.​

Real cannabis activism looks like Rick Steves’ ACLU-funded program that was banned from every infomercial slot on Seattle’s local broadcast network affiliates. Harborside’s motives smell fishy, and not just because of their dispensary location by the Bay.

Complex Magazine had a better perspective on the upcoming program: “In their continuing effort to be controversial, Discovery Channel is apparently soon going to announce a new show for their line-up that will be similar to Storage Wars; only, it’ll take place in an Oakland medical marijuana dispensary shop, and will be called Weed Wars.”​

The name of the show itself doesn’t exactly breed confidence that Discovery Channel can champion our message to the masses. Once again outside influences are empowered to shape our issues and present them how they see fit. The subjects of this reality series dress in alternative fashions and confirm all the stereotypes about the kooks who populate this community.​

“It’s not some hole-in-the-wall pot shop that’s an embarrassment to its neighborhood,” explained Steve DeAngelo.​

Just because he is leading the charge to the conglomerate model of cannabis access points, another Wal-Mart style takeover of a product in high demand, doesn’t mean he is progressive. Many hole-in-the-wall spots don’t embarrass their neighborhoods, stay under the radar and serve the needs of their patients first. And without seeking publicity for the quick buck. This Discovery Channel fiasco will backfire.​

The question is will Steve DeAngelo even notice the damage he has done?"​

 

[Little Tommy]

They will be at the top of the DEA list. Who is next?

 

[Mrs HatvanK]

What message will it convey to the masses? Is it going to be a "pothead" reality show or an educated miniseries?

 

[Hottik]

They will be at the top of the DEA list. Who is next?

Soo true, they seem to forget that the DEA is a federal organization and that they dont follow state laws regarding cannabis..

Good attempt discovery; I know i'll watch it but it is definitely bad for business

 

[collective gardener]

The DEA also seems to have a limit on how big they will let a pot business become. When Oakland wanted large scale commercial grow ops, the Feds said "at your own peril mother fuckers".

Thank god for that. Steve will attempt to show Harborside as the best model for the industry. That is too bad. On the production side, us smaller growers (40,000 watts or less) have a huge advantage in quality control, which will meke going large scale very hard. But on the distribution side, there is no such ceiling. And with many city's desire to limit the number of dispensaries, the Mega Dispensary seems to be the most likely model to succeed. Then, they will get together, fix wholesale prices, and have us vendors by the balls. Thanks Steve...prick.

 

[j4droopy]

This is RICH!!! Of course they have officially pissed the DEA off. If its a Discovery Channel miniseries then most likely it will portray medicinal in a positive way. Regardless everyone should pay attention to this and see how the current administration and DEA respond. This year alone has been horrible. The raids on outdoor crops this year have just been disgusting. So many lives and so much hard work ruined, because of our complacency and their ignorance. Lets hope this dispense in oakland and its patients are some realllllyyy good salesman.

 

[collective gardener]

This is RICH!!! Of course they have officially pissed the DEA off. If its a Discovery Channel miniseries then most likely it will portray medicinal in a positive way. Regardless everyone should pay attention to this and see how the current administration and DEA respond. This year alone has been horrible. The raids on outdoor crops this year have just been disgusting. So many lives and so much hard work ruined, because of our complacency and their ignorance. Lets hope this dispense in oakland and its patients are some realllllyyy good salesman.

I don't know about outdoor busts. Here in California, C.A.M.P (campaign against marijuana production) lost HALF its funding this year. These are the guys who fly helicopters all over Northern California looking for plantations. They have been the arch enemy of our outdoor brothers for many years. losing half its $$$ should translate into far fewer crop busts. Typically, when a government entity loses funding, they go out of their way to show how the public what a horrible mistake it was to cut off their funds. It wouldn't suprise me if CAMP's crop busts went down by 75% since the funding cut. Then they could stand up and scream "I told you so...you take away our money and now it's raining pot".

Discovery covering Harborside in their mini series shows how ignorant they are. Harborside does not represent the typical dispensary by any stretch. The publics image of our industry will be far from accurate. This may be a good thing since Harborside is a very proffessional dispensary, conducting tests on 100% of their products and dealing with their vendors fairly. I just don't like the idea ofhaving just a few "mega dispensaries". It's not good for the patients, and even worse for us vendors. San Jose will see a reduction in the number of dispensaries by over 90% the end of this month. The surviving few will be in a position to excert unfair control over the prices patients pay and the prices vendors recieve for meds. It's alot easier to get 10 dispensary owners sitting around a table to decide what prices shall be than 140 owners. Just look at grocery and gas costs. Do you really think the prices represent actual costs and competitive markup? Hell no. The prices are decided in closed door meetings with the handfull of companies that control these markets. It will be a sad day to see weed go that way. But, if Steve DeAngelo has his way, that's exactly what will happen. And now, Discovery is giving him several hours of coverage to make his sales pitch as to why just a few large collectives will be better for everybody.