No More Weed Wars

A Message from Stephen DeAngelo of Harborside Health Center:

To all of our Esteemed Patients,

We want to take this opportunity to inform everyone of the Discovery Channel decision regarding the future of our groundbreaking television program, “Weed Wars.” But first, we must take a moment to offer our personal thanks to everyone who played instrumental roles in this process and to honor the accomplishments of our efforts.

To our patients: We feel such honor in our hearts to be able to stand next to you in this struggle to free cannabis and tell our story in “Weed Wars.” You all made sacrifices during the filming of this series by tolerating cameras in your place of wellness. Many of you shared your personal stories about medical cannabis with the world. The courage you exhibited with this storytelling cannot be measured by ratings or expressed with words. You are the true stars of “Weed Wars” and you lit up the world with hope. You gave people a living example of change they can believe in. You have planted the seed of truth about medical cannabis to thousands of Americans. This seed will take bloom in hundreds of different ways by patient activists who have been inspired by “Weed Wars.” Our movement will grow stronger as a result of your stories being told to America. The contribution of “Weed Wars” to the advancement of safe access to medical cannabis will be felt for generations.

Perhaps the most important acknowledgement we have to offer is to all of our managers and staff. You let the world know medical cannabis collectives can be more professionally run than many mainstream businesses. Many of you also shared very intimate details of your lives with the world. You put your best foot forward in the way you represented our company and our brand. And you did all of this without big money from Hollywood or any other materialistic advantage. You did this because you wanted to represent our movement and share your knowledge of this miraculous plant. You are the true heroes of “Weed Wars.” We could not be more proud of a group of people than we are of all of you. Your work has been seen by millions of people all over the world. You have set a glowing example to many future generations of medical cannabis activists and business people. It is not often that a group of people can look back in time and say, “We made history,” but this group can. No one can ever take that away from you.

We must also express heartfelt thanks to Braverman Productions for their outstanding work as filmmakers of “Weed Wars.” Not many of you will ever know all the battles Chuck and Alex Braverman fought on behalf of our collective and patients. They brought so much passion, wisdom and integrity to this process. They have an amazing team of photographers, editors, sound designers and storytellers. To be able to work with that kind of talent is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We will always be grateful for their efforts.

For the first time on a major television network, medical cannabis collectives were shown from the patient point-of-view rather than the law enforcement point-of-view. Never before had America been exposed to our side of the story or heard the sound of our voices. “Weed Wars” has forever changed that as sites like YouTube will continue to show the world for years to come. In addition, “Weed Wars” received rave reviews from almost every major media outlet in the country, including local publications like the San Francisco Chronicle, the East Bay Express, and the San Jose Mercury News. The program is currently being aired in Holland and Denmark, and will be seen in most of Europe and Latin America.

All the accomplishments of “Weed Wars” won’t be fully realized for another generation, as all the people who saw the program move through the world and activate themselves with the cannabis plant. We are certain that 10 and 20 years from now people will stop us on the street and mention how “Weed Wars” changed their lives.

Nothing would please us more than to be able to continue with future episodes of “Weed Wars.” Unfortunately the Discovery Channel has made a much different decision and will no longer continue with future episodes. We do not know why, nor do we understand why, they made that decision.

– Stephen DeAngelo, Executive Director & Andrew DeAngelo, General Manager