Higher education: Here are 5 of the best documentaries about weed out now

Weed the People, Netflix

A common thread in anti-drug PSAs and high school D.A.R.E presentations is the idea that marijuana is a “gateway drug.” In Weed the People, director Abby Epstein carefully dismantles that argument with the help of physicians and weed advocates and also turns her lens on how Big Pharma has allegedly pushed for marijuana prohibition for over 80 years.

She dives headfirst into the controversial world of parents seeking medical marijuana for their children with cancer and other serious illnesses because of its role as a muscle relaxant and ability to bolster appetite. As Bonni Goldstein, a pediatrician and medical marijuana treatment specialist, puts it, “To a family that’s suffering, it feels like a miracle. It’s really just science. It’s not fairy dust and it’s not voodoo. There are chemicals in the plant that work just like any other drug.”

Weed the People also spotlights studies that show how marijuana-derived cannabinoids have killed some cancer cells in test tubes. However, human trials largely aren’t on the table and as a result, science lags behind the copious anecdotal evidence of marijuana’s efficacy. As such, parents of terminally ill children who are desperately searching for some kind of hope are beginning to advocate for increased research and regulation for marijuana as a viable treatment.

This is an informative, bittersweet documentary that is deeply human.

Rolling Papers, Paid Video on Demand

As a journalist, Rolling Papers is one of my personal favorite documentaries on this list because it gives a super illuminating portrait of how the “Denver Post” had to adapt as a publication once marijuana became recreationally legalized in Colorado. Under “pot editor” Ricardo Baco, the paper has to navigate how to cover the topic in a way that will get people to take it seriously. In many ways, it’s like the early days of Big Food Media.

You’ve got your critics, like former “budtender” Jake Browne who casually remarks with the confidence of a sommelier that a certain strain has a “big nose of pine, a little bit of rubber and some lemon as well.” There are your columnists, like Brittany Driver, who writes about pot and parenting — a contentious topic that has her worried about increased scrutiny from Child Protective Services. There are investigative journalists, like Eric Gorski, who looks into how the lack of regulations behind edible potency can affect consumers.

The documentary — which was previously on Netflix and can now be rented for $1.99 on YouTube — has some occasional pacing lags, but it’s a fun newsroom documentary that deftly captures the enthusiasm for a new beat amid struggles for newspapers to stay in print.