Rolling Papers: The Documentary Coming to Netflix

Beginning July 14, Rolling Papers, a documentary about legal cannabis and the journalists covering it, will be available to stream on Netflix.

Rolling Papers opened on February 19 and aired at special screenings in the Colorado area. Director Mitch Dickman hoped to capture the socio-political situation that’s reshaping Colorado, a culture that’s permeated nearly all walks of life. Rolling Papers balances lighthearted and humorous moments with the critical nature of ill patients that depend on medical cannabis.

The film follows The Cannabist‘s Ricardo Baca and several other journalists as they cover the rapidly changing industry. In 2013, just before Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational cannabis, The Denver Post launched an online media brand focused on the legal cannabis industry called The Cannabist. The Denver Post‘s editor Gregory L. Moore appointed Ricardo Baca as the paper’s official editor. Since then Baca has traveled to Uruguay to explore the first nation to legalize cannabis.

One of the other journalists featured in Rolling Papers is Jake Browne, a writer, comedian for Sexpot and Colorado’s cannabis critic, who samples strains from some of Colorado’s finest products. “There are a number of different notes that people are unaware of,” Browne told the Washington Post in a recent interview. “One can smell like fresh pines with tennis ball rubber smell to it, while others can have a fresh citrus smell like a tangerine.”

The film also covers the shifting landscape of the newspaper industry, which has forced publications to evolve to include online platforms. The main focus of Rolling Papers, however, is the ripple effect that has been set into motion by the legalization of cannabis in Colorado. We’ve come a long way since Reefer Madness.