On Monday, CBS This Morning continued to act as an unofficial spokesman for the marijuana industry as it eagerly promoted the growing trend of celebrities investing millions into pot startups.
Fill-in host Jeff Glor introduced the segment by playing up how “[m]arijuana use is gaining greater acceptance across the country. Nearly half of Americans tell the Pew Research Center they've tried pot. The number of companies looking to cash in is also growing, including some with celebrity backers.”
Glor then turned to correspondent Gigi Stone Woods to offer a one-sided pro-pot story in which she spoke to celebrities Melissa Ethridge and Tommy Chung as examples of “celebrities trying to capitalize on the growing pot industry.”
After Stone Woods explained that it was Ethridge’s battle with breast cancer that lead her to become a marijuana advocate, the CBS reporter highlighted how she helped create a new marijuana-infused wine. To her credit, Stone Woods did briefly mention the potentially deadly consequences of mixing marijuana with alcohol but quickly downplayed the negative impact of the product:
But Ethridge says the cannabis in her wine is not dangerous in moderation because its cold pressed, never heated, it doesn’t have a psychoactive effect. And it doesn't make you high.
The CBS reporter continued to provide a platform for celebrities entering the pot marketplace which include “rapper Snoop Dogg, who's investing millions of dollars into pot startups. And Bob Marley's family has their own brand of bud Marley Natural. So does singer Willie Nelson and Tommy Chung, who's the patriarch of stoner comedies.”
After she detailed some of the marijuana products being created, such as “smoke swipe which he [Tommy Chung] says can help remove the odor," Stone Woods sympathetically asked Chong if he “sense[s] that the social stigma about marijuana is changing?”
The CBS reporter concluded her pro-marijuana piece by giving Ethridge one final chance to promote her desire to see marijuana-infused wine nationwide before Stone Woods lamented that the federal government could halt this growing industry:
Etheridge's wine is currently only available to medical marijuana patients in California where pot is legal for medicinal purpose bus she has a vision for her business growth...One investment group estimates the legal marijuana market could grow to $11 billion over the next four years but if the federal government steps in, that could all go up in smoke.
Since January of 2014, CBS This Morning has run numerous segments glorifying the marijuana industry, while rarely noting the potential harmful consequences legalization may have on society. Below is just a sample of the lengths CBS has gone to advocate on behalf of legalized marijuana in America:
• On January 24, 2014 CBS hyped “cannabis capitalism” and “pot tours” throughout Colorado
• On April 24, 2014 CBS touted the best marijuana in Colorado called “ghost train haze”
• On June 17, 2014 Petersen promoted pot as an empowerment tool for women
• On October 27, 2014 CBS This Morning pushed the Marijuana ‘miracle’ in Colorado
• On November 26, 2014 CBS wished its views a “Merry Marijuana” and a “Happy Cannabis!”
• On May 30, 2015 the pot-obsessed CBS This Morning highlighted “Facebook for stoners”
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
June 8, 2015
JEFF GLOR: Marijuana use is gaining greater acceptance across the country. Nearly half of Americans tell the Pew Research Center they've tried pot. The number of companies looking to cash in is also growing, including some with celebrity backers. Gigi Stone Woods spoke with some high-profile names embracing the business of legal marijuana. She's at the New York office of Marley Natural, a brand inspired by Bob Marley. Gigi good morning.
GIGI STONE WOODS: Good morning. Here at the Marley family headquarters in New York City they're developing all sorts of new pot products, new marijuana strains, accessories to smoke it, even hemp-infused body lotion. The Marley family is just one example of celebrities trying to capitalize on the growing pot industry.
MELISSA ETHRIDGE: [Singing] Take the powder, take a little bit of glitter.
STONE WOODS: Melissa Etheridge never really fit the rock star image. Your friends say being a rock star was wasted on you.
ETHRIDGE: I know. It's true. I saw alcohol. I saw what it did. I just -- I was too excited about music to let that ruin it. So all those -- the drug days in the '80s and '90s, I really let that go by without ever getting involved in it.
STONE WOODS: But in 2004 Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. She said marijuana saved her life.
ETHRIDGE: It helped with the psychological effects of being on chemo and trying to understand what's happening to you.
STONE WOODS: She became an unlikely spokesperson for marijuana legalization and today she's an even more unlikely entrepreneur. Ethridge helped create a marijuana infused wine. Mixing alcohol and pot can increase the negative effects of each drug according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, sometimes even leading to death. But Ethridge says the cannabis in her wine is not dangerous in moderation because its cold pressed, never heated, it doesn’t have a psychoactive effect. And it doesn't make you high.
ETHRIDGE: It doesn't make you high as you and I would know it. If you're looking to get high, I would say no, this cannabis wine is not for you.
STONE WOODS: Etheridge didn't need to be a cannabis connoisseur to cash in on the plant but it certainly helped other celebrities get into the business. Like rapper Snoop Dogg, who's investing millions of dollars into pot startups. And Bob Marley's family has their own brand of bud Marley Natural. So does singer Willie Nelson and Tommy Chung, who's the patriarch of stoner comedies.
TOMMY CHUNG: That’s almost a day’s worth.
STONE WOODS: Now at 77, he’s lending his name to all sorts of pot products.
CHUNG: A stoner’s version of baby wipes.
STONE WOODS: Including the smoke swipe which he says can help remove the odor.
CHUNG: Well see, everybody else has changed. I was the same. I haven’t changed. I haven't changed for 50 years. The rest of the world kind of caught up with me.
ETHRIDGE: [Singing] Cover up just makes the sweet a little bitter
STONE WOODS: Do you sense that the social stigma about marijuana is changing?
ETHRIDGE: Once more people see that it's not the crazy gateway drug that's going to lead me down the path, then the social stigma will go away. I know the younger generation certainly.
STONE WOODS: Etheridge's wine is currently only available to medical marijuana patients in California where pot is legal for medicinal purpose bus she has a vision for her business growth.
ETHRIDGE: Like any good California wine I'd like for this product to be available in restaurants. I'd love to see this available to the general public, you know, wherever you buy your fine wines.
STONE WOODS: One investment group estimates the legal marijuana market could grow to $11 billion over the next four years but if the federal government steps in, that could all go up in smoke.
