Actor and cannabis entrepreneur Jim Belushi appeared on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and spoke about cannabis farming, cannabis advocacy and the latest season of his show Growing Belushi, a Discovery Channel show that documents Belushi’s life and business on his cannabis farm in southern Oregon.
Belushi started his farm in Oregon in 2015 with about 48 plants and the farm has grown to the 93-acre space it currently occupies. Belushi’s Farm products are currently available in Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois and Massachusetts and consist of three signature brands: Blues Brothers, Captain Jack’s and Belushi’s Secret Stash.
Growing Belushi takes viewers behind the scenes of Belushi’s Farm and how the operation runs. The new second season will focus on the farm rebranding from a small independent farm to a premium high-end farm for the masses. The show premiered in 2020 and followed the 2015 show Building Belushi which followed Belushi and a construction crew as they built a house on Oregon’s Rogue River.
Belushi essentially left Hollywood to move to Oregon to start and run his cannabis farm and said he believes his brother, the late actor and comedian John Belushi, would still be alive today if he had stuck with consuming cannabis instead of getting into the harder drugs that caused his death due to overdose.
Belushi calls himself a “microdoser” and said he doesn’t get stoned but mainly uses cannabis and his own flower products to help him get to sleep at night.
“That’s the extent of it. I’m not a big user. It really is to mitigate my PTSD. I’m not a veteran, and I haven’t been in prison, but I’ve had a lot of things in my life mess me up, where I’ve lost total control, and have unnecessary anxiety and fear from time to time, so I find this regimen really works for me,” Belushi said.
Belushi also discussed his partnership with The Last Prisoner Project, an organization that works towards releasing cannabis prisoners and offering re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated cannabis prisoners. The organization was founded in 2019 and seeks cannabis criminal justice reform. It is made up of activists, advocates, attorneys and others, including Belushi who is on the advisory board of the organization.
“They (the cannabis prisoners) were the pioneers for the cannabis industry. They’re the ones that took the arrows, they’re the ones that went to jail for nonviolent cannabis crimes. Whether they had an ounce or three pounds on them, they were trying to make a living for their family. When they get thrown into prison, it collapses that family, creates more trauma. There are 40,000 men and women incarcerated right now for nonviolent cannabis crimes,” Belushi said on the late night show.
Belushi has also mentioned he supports any cause or organization that helps veterans as well, saying that he is involved with anything that brings awareness to the VA to allow cannabis to be used as a treatment as opposed to opiates.
In addition to his own farm and products, Belushi has also collaborated with Bhang to release a line of Bhang x Blues Brothers cannabis edible chocolates. As part of the collaboration, Bhang will make a monthly pledge as well as provide marketing and other promotional support to the Last Prisoner Project.
“The Last Prisoner Project is an organization committed to freeing every last prisoner of the unjust war on drugs, starting with the 40,000 people in prison for cannabis-related offenses, now legal in most states,” said Jamie L. Pearson, Bhang President and CEO. “We are proud to donate time, money, and product to help bring every last cannabis prisoner home.”
