Video of the Day: TV report treats hemp and marijuana like they're the same thing

In her coverage of Colorado's early steps toward launching a hemp industry (including last week's post about the first U.S. hemp harvest in more than fifty years), Melanie Asmar has referred to the plant as "marijuana's sober stepsister" because it has almost none of the psychoactive ingredient that makes users...

By Michael Roberts

October 7, 2013

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In her coverage of Colorado's early steps toward launching a hemp industry (including last week's post about the first U.S. hemp harvest in more than fifty years), Melanie Asmar has referred to the plant as "marijuana's sober stepsister" because it has almost none of the psychoactive ingredient that makes users high. But in getting this message across, hemp advocates have years of misinformation to overcome.

Here's a prime example.

We recently stumbled upon a 2009 CBS4 report shared on the humor website eBaum's World about hemp being accidentally planted at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, where buffalo refused to eat it.

Throughout, the piece uses the terms "hemp" and "marijuana" interchangeably and makes lots of completely inaccurate stoner jokes. See what we mean below.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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