MSNBC will premiere "Pot Barons of Colorado" tonight, November 30 at 10 p.m. ET. Produced by MSNBC's Long Form Unit and Triple Threat TV, the six-part documentary series follows the stories of Colorado-based 'pot barons' who are working to secure a foothold in the rapidly expanding world of recreational marijuana use.
On New Year's Day 2014, the nation's first legal recreational marijuana dispensaries opened in Colorado. The demand for legal weed stunned the experts, effectively launching a 21stcentury "green rush." From dispensaries to grow houses, "Pot Barons of Colorado" delves into the thrilling and suspenseful world of Colorado's recreational marijuana businesses as they race to cash in on this unprecedented boom.
In the six-part series, audiences will meet a handful of the state's leading Pot Barons, including: Jamie Perino, owner of Euflora, a high tech pot parlor; Andy and Pete Williams, owners of the family business, Medicine Man, who run one of the largest single-store marijuana dispensaries in the world; and Tripp Keber, who hopes to build an empire out of his Dixie Elixirs, a marijuana soda that comes in fancy brushed-aluminum bottles. The documentary explores how each pot baron broke into the industry, the risks they are taking, the dreams they're pursuing, and the setbacks they must overcome.
The series takes viewers deep inside this budding industry filled with financial opportunity, but also fraught with danger. At the federal level, marijuana remains an illegal substance, so banks are shunning the business, creating a cash-only world and a climate of armed guards, locked vaults, and constant concerns about security.
Another branch of the industry looked at in the series is edibles. Products such as marijuana cookies, brownies, or even sodas, have provided hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, but they have also been connected to two deaths and a number of children's visits to emergency rooms. As state regulators consider possible changes in the laws, some of the pot barons must choose whether to support a costly compromise or stand their ground and face potential ruin.
From MSNBC's Longform Unit, Michael Rubin, Vice President, Scott Hooker, Senior Executive Producer, Vicki Sufian, Senior Producer and Carrie Wysocki, Director of Production, worked on this project. For Triple Threat, Gary Cohen was Executive Producer, Writer and Narrator, with Niki Usbay McDonald as Director and Matt McDonald as Senior Producer. Rasha Drachkovitch was Co-Executive Producer from44 Blue Productions.
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