In its first two seasons, “Growing Belushi” offered viewers a sometimes informative, sometimes goofy look at actor and musician Jim Belushi’s southern Oregon cannabis farm, mixing insights into the business with banter between Belushi and his cousin Chris, and hijinks from Belushi’s “According to Jim” castmate, Larry Joe Campbell.
“Growing Belushi” Season 3 premieres at 9 p.m. April 5 on the Discovery channel. No cable? You can stream the series on Fubo, which offers a free trial; and on Discovery Plus)
When the Discovery channel series returns for Season 3 on April 5, expect some of the same lighthearted tone. But this time, as Belushi says, the comic moments will be mixed with some of the tough realities facing those in the legal cannabis business.
“Being in the cannabis business in Oregon?” Belushi says. “It’s a struggle right now in Oregon. It’s a struggle right now in California, and in Colorado. The business is changing.”
“Everybody is suffering,” says Belushi, calling from Chicago, where he’s doing press for the new “Growing Belushi” season. “Every dispensary, every grower.”
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Challenges include falling prices, oversupply and what Belushi describes as “over-taxation and over-regulation.” Other reasons for dropping prices for cannabis include declines in tourism related to wildfires in Oregon, and social unrest in Portland, which scared away tourists, and impacted summertime sales, Belushi says. “And there are so many grow licenses, they’re producing more than you can sell. It hurts everybody.”
Related: Jim Belushi on ‘Growing Belushi,’ his Oregon cannabis farm, and marijuana as ‘spiritual medicine’
Another issue for those in the legal cannabis trade is the presence of illegal grow operations, a topic that also comes up in the first episode of “Growing Belushi” Season 3. Last season of the show ended with a devastating fire, which destroyed one of the buildings at Belushi’s Farm, located on the Rogue River.
When the new season begins, investigation is underway into what caused the fire. Belushi talks about how organized criminal elements have set up growing operations in Oregon, which grow cannabis to send across the country, ignore state regulations, pose threats to the environment, and may possibly be connected to other criminal activities.
By the end of the first Season 3 “Growing Belushi” episode, viewers find out whether fire at Belushi’s Farm was caused by arson or by other factors. We won’t give that away here, but Belushi says, “We were very concerned about the amount of organized crime in Jackson County. With black market cannabis, you don’t know what you’re ingesting.”
There’s a difference, Belushi says, between the so-called legacy growers, who may have been growing cannabis since the hippie days of the 1960s and 1970s, decades before Oregon made recreational marijuana legal for people 21 and older in 2015, and the black market operations. “The legacy growers are guys who have been growing it for 40 years or more,” Belushi says. “And a lot of them came over to the legal market, and they’re getting crushed with over-taxation and over-regulation,” trying to compete with black market growers who may sell for 22 or 25 percent less than what legal operations charge.
With all this, Belushi says, “I have to make adjustments.” The third season of “Growing Belushi” gets into some of those, as Belushi travels across the country – and even to Albania – to establish new markets for his cannabis brand.
“I have a lot of frequent flyer miles right now,” Belushi says.
A teaser for what’s to come as Season 3 continues offers glimpses of movie icon Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Maher – the “Real Time” host who’s long been a vocal advocate for marijuana legalization – but Belushi says viewers will have to tune in to find out just what happens.
“It’s all real,” Belushi says. “The show is based on me being a grower, and being a brand within the cannabis business, showing what you do, and how you do it.” Though there’s humor, Belushi says, “The show is not about pot smokers, there’s no smoking weed, there’s no people trying to get high, we’re not trying to get jokes from that.”
In addition to Belushi, friends, and family members, the show also occasionally features interactions with southern Oregon residents, including a pair of deputy fire marshals from Jackson County, who turn up near the end of Season 3′s first episode.
“They were part of the fire investigation,” Belushi says. “Sometimes, people are nervous about being on TV. But I tell everybody, I’ll never make you look bad. Nobody looks like a fool except for me.”
As an executive producer of the show, Belushi says, “I just over-shoot, and I get so much good stuff, the editing is hard.” The new season includes Belushi talking about getting a divorce, being an empty nester, and feeling lonely.
“The story’s got to be based on what really happens,” Belushi says. “That was kind of the emotional through line. My whole family purpose has been going through a shift, so it’s like Chris says, ‘He’s filling, and not feeling.’ And that’s why I’m, like, ‘Let’s expand.’ I don’t want to slow down, because I don’t want to feel anything. Chris is the one that says, ‘Slow down, let’s look at this in a different way,’ and I’m the one going, ‘C’mon, man, let’s do it, let’s take risks.’ I’m an actor, I risk for a living.”
Viewers who watch “Growing Belushi” Season 3 can expect “some good laughs, and to learn about the cannabis industry,” Belushi says. “I want to try to create confidence in cannabis, and the way to do it is to let people know how it’s grown, the safety involved with it, and the lengths we go through to make sure the product is safe for the consumer.”
It all goes back to Belushi’s belief that “cannabis is a benefit to people,” and can be, as he has said, “a spiritual medicine.”
“This is not a gold rush anymore,” Belushi says. “It’s not like people are making lots of money. The margins are thin, especially with the compressing of the price.”
But even with the evolution of the business, Belushi says he has no plans to stop. “We could use a little help,” he says. “But I got my Oregon driver’s license. I consider it my home. I love being an Oregonian now.”
— Kristi Turnquist
503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist
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