Back in February, we collected videos from major news organizations such as CBS and the New York Times to demonstrate that the national media is still hooked on Colorado pot.
More evidence will arrive this weekend, when CNN will debut High Profits.
The new reality-TV series focuses on the pair behind the Breckenridge Cannabis Club.
Continue for details and preview videos from the program.
The teaser line for High Profits reads: "A young couple with a dream seek to build the world's first legal marijuana empire."
The couple in question is Caitlin McGuire and Brian Rogers, and their showcase has been in the works for months. CNN first announced the series this past October.
Here's how it's described in the CNN release:
In the newest CNN Original Series High Profits, viewers will meet Brian Rogers and Caitlin McGuire: two business-minded, dream seeking, relentless visionaries with a plan unlike any other — to franchise marijuana. The eight-part series, produced by Bat Bridge Entertainment, will grant exclusive access to the couple poised to be the first ever “moguls of marijuana.”
Like the oil tycoons and dot-com magnates that have come before them, the owners of Breckenridge Cannabis Club (BCC) are at the forefront of a new industry that’s prime for an abundance of wealth and opportunity.
To put in perspective: in the months since Colorado became the first place in the world to legalize the use and sale of recreational marijuana, the BCC has grown from a $515,000 per year medical marijuana dispensary with four employees to a $5,000,000 per year business of 30 employees. They are giving their competitors a run for their money, and recently bought a competing business in a neighboring resort town. And their sights do not set there.
Brian and Caitlin want to expand beyond the oversaturated Colorado market, which seems to have more pot stores than coffee shops, and build the first marijuana franchise. Since the benefits of marijuana decriminalization have not gone unnoticed (think revenue streams attractive to even the most conservative of politicians, lower crime rates and job creation), they are working towards expanding to other states as they follow Colorado’s suit.
Each one-hour episode will examine this new booming industry, following two entrepreneurs as they manage a highly lucrative chain of retail marijuana stores, one of the largest grow facilities in the State and build a franchise empire. This is no easy feat — especially when the product lining their shelves, and pockets, continues to be classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the federal government.
Employee issues and customers’ demands. Product growth and testing. Newfound wealth and serious safety concerns. Complicated taxes and unfriendly banks. Political games and legal hurdles. High Profits will diary America’s first ever moguls of marijuana who have to rise above all of this and more.
The series is scheduled to launch on 4/20 eve — Sunday, April 19, at 10 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Mountain. That's good news for Caitlin and Brian, who've been teasing the show on the shop's Facebook page (listed under the moniker Backcountry Cannbis Co.) for months.
Their most recent post reads in part, "We are getting excited and hope you are too!"
We know the folks at CNN are. The network has run plenty of programming related to Colorado marijuana in recent years — and it's clearly not alone.
Continue for four videos from High Profits.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.