7 Must-Watch Marijuana Documentaries on Netflix

If you're like CTU, you love watching documentaries, so why not take a look at 7 Must-Watch Pot Documentaries on Netflix? Marijuana documentaries provide new and experienced users with revealing insight into how the new industry works.

From social inequity to the enormous financial gains at stake, marijuana documentaries provide a changing narrative for a developing cannabis industry.

Netflix features multiple cannabis-related documentaries that highlight the cultural and economic effects of the burgeoning industry. Grab some popcorn, settle into your couch, and check out these seven educational and entertaining pot documentaries on Netflix to learn more about your favorite plant.

1. Murder Mountain

Murder Mountain is a riveting and intriguing tale about the death of Garret Rodriguez, a 29-year old marijuana grower who mysteriously went missing. This pot documentary highlights the veil of secrecy and lawlessness that exists in some pockets of the Emerald Triangle, a region in Northern California known for its cannabis cultivation that can sometimes turn deadly.

Interviews with locals and law enforcement reveal a dark underbelly to the emerging legalized market. In an industry with seemingly unlimited market potential, unscrupulous individuals will do whatever it takes to get their share of the “green rush.”

2. The Legend of 420

If you’re relatively new to cannabis, The Legend of 420 can be an excellent primer for first-time users on the present state of the marijuana industry. The 2017 documentary film highlights the timeline of marijuana legalization and its potential risks.

Directed by Peter Spirer, The Legend of 420 dives into the racist backbone of drug criminalization and the continued efforts by the Trump Administration to demonize cannabis and its users. The entire film is underscored by marijuana-related standup bits from comics at San Francisco’s The Comedy Joint to lighten the mood.

3. Grass is Greener

Grass is Greener takes a socially conscious approach to discussing marijuana legalization. The documentary was directed by Fab 5 of Yo! MTV Raps fame. Celebrity guests such as B-Real, Damian Marley, Snoop Dogg, and Killer Mike talk about the benefits of marijuana and its painful history in minority communities.

Grass is Greener is an excellent introductory documentary for novice users about the cannabis law developments of the 20th century. If you’re looking for a music-heavy focus on marijuana history, check out this riveting weed documentary.

4. Drug Lords

Narcos does a great job of fictionalizing a drug cartel’s history, but Drug Lords provides Netflix users with a true-to-life account of the rise of major drug kingpins across the world. This 2018 docu-series features eight episodes on the most prolific drug distributors that facilitated drug use throughout the world.

The first four-part season features episodes on legendary drug lords such as Pablo Escobar, the Cali Cartel, Frank Lucas, and the Pettingill family. The second season showcases the stories of El Chapo, Jemeker Thompson, Christopher Coke, and Klass Bunisma.

5. Weed the People

Medical marijuana research is primarily conducted on animals, while human studies fall behind. Marijuana has displayed cancer-fighting capabilities in preliminary research, but no long-term studies have been performed. However, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence on treating humans with cannabis.

Weed the People takes a look at specific instances where medical marijuana has helped cancer patients go into remission or improve their ability to tolerate chemotherapy. Weed the People also discusses the factors that have affected legalization including discrimination and a deeply held stigma against the plant.

6. Rolling Papers

The emerging cannabis industry is bringing a range of job opportunities to the workforce. Rolling Papers takes a look at how legalization has affected one particular forward-thinking newsroom in the cannabis market.

The documentary focuses on the journey of Ricardo Baca, The Denver Post’s first-ever cannabis editor. Rolling Papers chronicles Baca’s journey in hiring multiple pot critics and the obstacles that face professionals in the stigmatized marijuana industry. Rolling Papers is a worthy documentary for cannabis enthusiasts searching for insight into how cannabis became a global phenomenon and where the industry is headed.

7. Reincarnated

Snoop Dogg has become a music, cultural, and cannabis icon. In Reincarnated, Netflix viewers can see the metamorphosis of Snoop Dogg from rapper to reggae artist. In the documentary, Snoop Dogg travels through Jamaica to discover the Rastafarian culture. Snoop Dogg collaborates with producers to chart new territory. His penchant for weed provides an insightful account of modern-day cannabis culture in its many forms. Check out this documentary if you’re a fan of hip-hop, cannabis, and reggae.

Netflix has continuously put out pro-pot documentaries showcasing the science and stories behind medical and recreational marijuana. While many lawmakers and individuals still fear the effects of cannabis, these important documentaries are showing the relative innocuousness of this intoxicating plant. If you’re ready to learn about cannabis while consuming weed, there’s plenty of material to watch on Netflix and other streaming platforms. Check out Reincarnated cannabis movie when you can!

More Cannabis Documentaries To Watch

Cannabis history and culture spans for millennia. There's so much to learn about the rise of medical marijuana and recreationally legal markets. Marijuana documentaries provide viewers with an in-depth and entertaining look into this newly established industry.

If you want to learn more about the cannabis industry, documentaries covering illegal cannabis usage and the growth of the legal cannabis market show you just how far this industry has come. Ready to learn something new? Check out these top marijuana documentaries.

Best Marijuana Documentaries

Super High Me

As a parody to the social experiment/documentary Super Size Me, Super High Me was comedian Doug Benson’s attempt to see how 30 days of all-out cannabis use affected his life and stand-up career. He started the experiment with a 30-day cleanse and followed it with 30 days of unrestricted cannabis use. 

Throughout the documentary, we see him go through various physical and mental health tests to identify how weed use affects his mind and body. While the documentary is short on history lessons and scientific research, it’s an entertaining look at how the culture is changing around cannabis and how heavy use does not completely ruin a person’s life.

A NORML Life

A NORML Life is a documentary about the state of medical cannabis in the U.S. in 2011. NORML is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana laws founded in the 1970s as a political activism group fighting for cannabis legalization. The documentary includes personal stories from patients and doctors who attest to the therapeutic power of cannabis and shows how they participate in activism to help stop cannabis prohibition.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

Before legal marijuana took hold worldwide, cannabis prohibition prevented a grower, processor, and seller from operating as a legitimate business. This documentary explores how the illicit market came to be and continues to grow despite prohibition. The film includes interviews with growers, police officers, economists, doctors, and many more and takes a deeper look into legal cannabis operations. 

The Culture High

From the makers of The Union: The Business Behind Getting High comes The Culture High, a documentary with a serious tone featuring various in-depth interviews with Snoop Dogg, Joe Rogan, Sir Richard Branson, Wiz Khalifa, and more. 

The film shows how law enforcement and drug dealers benefit from the black market. We also look at how illicit cannabis businesses affect private prisons, pharmaceutical companies, and media organizations and why prohibition is serious business. The documentary also interviews law professors, economists, addiction specialists, and many more to show why the war on drugs has to stop. 

Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis

If you're interested in cannabis medical science, then you'll love the documentary Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis. The documentary follows Montana’s fight to legalize medical marijuana.

The documentary dives deep into how the plant’s chemical compounds interact with the human body and work to relieve various medical conditions and symptoms. It features interviews with those who have found relief with medical marijuana and leading scientists researching the drug.

Breaking Habits

Breaking Habits is a documentary about a group of activists following a self-proclaimed nun who starts a cannabis farm in Merced County California. After being cheated on by her longtime husband, former corporate executive Christine Meeusen gravitates toward the booming cannabis farming sector and starts up Sisters of the Valley to produce medical cannabis.

Final Thoughts on Marijuana Documentaries

If you want to learn more about this brand new industry and how the cannabis world is growing, check out the best weed documentaries we've listed. Medical and recreational cannabis has come a long way from prohibition, but the fight is still not over. Find out how we got here and how far we have to go with these marijuana documentaries.

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