An Exclusive Early Look At Unreleased Episodes Of The New Cannabis Docuseries 'Destigmatized'

Communications firm Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency has launched “Destigmatized,” an Instagram TV docuseries documenting America’s ever-transforming relationship with the cannabis plant. The series features more than 120 episodes, with each short documentary capturing an individual's story about how cannabis has improved their life.

Helmed by Grasslands’ CEO and founder Ricardo Baca, the series aims to open up a dialogue and normalize the conversation surrounding consumption by asking three questions of each subject:

1. How has cannabis improved your life?
2. How has your relationship with cannabis changed since the first time you got high?
3. And, complete this sentence: “I consume cannabis to help me…”

By asking these questions, Baca and Grasslands hope to take cannabis from legalization into normalization and eventually commercialization.

A Chat With Baca

Talking with Benzinga, Baca said he’s always been a storyteller, first as a journalist and now as a communications professional.

“Destigmatized is really us exploring another medium to help tell some of these compelling and necessary stories,” he said. “We owe the recent changes in the drug policy reform movement entirely to the brave individuals who have shared their personal stories, and so our goal is to continue sharing these stories that highlight cannabis and its legitimately life-changing qualities.”

Baca recognized the bravery of the people who’ve agreed to appear on camera, sharing their stories about things like using cannabis suppositories to treat their dysmenorrhea, or discovering that marijuana was extremely efficacious in treating their COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

“Even though I've been reporting on the cannabis beat since 2013, I've discovered that I will never get tired of hearing these stories,” Baca told Benzinga. “From the middle-aged guy who only uses it to sleep to the young woman whose quality of life has been transformed by her having access to the plant, I could honestly listen to these stories all day. And so I hope people are connecting with these episodes as much as I did when we filmed them at our Denver headquarters back in July.”

Check out three unreleased episodes below.

Diana Anglin

Max Montrose

Julie Berliner