Jim Belushi on ‘Growing Belushi’ and why he wishes his brother had used cannabis
Growing Belushi star Jim Belushi talks about his reality show about his new family business: growing cannabis. He also talks about his late brother John and how he honors him every day.
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm back.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Belushi's farm, marijuana, cannabis, reefer.
KEVIN POLOWY: Congrats on the launch of season two of "Growing Belushi" on Discovery.
JIM BELUSHI: Yes.
KEVIN POLOWY: For those not yet familiar, can you talk a little bit about the origin of the show and why you wanted to document this endeavor?
JIM BELUSHI: Well, the origin of the show is I have this farm in Oregon, and I didn't know what to grow in 93 acres and cannabis became legal recreationally, and I went, well, it's a new agriculture. So I started off with these really hip growers. One was Captain Jack, friend of Danny Aykroyd, who brought seeds from Afghanistan in the 70s. He knew Danny through SNL because he was the weed dealer for Danny and SNL. And I swear coneheads came out of this and all those crazy ideas.
- What else do people like to bite?
- A trapeze.
JIM BELUSHI: It is the greatest medicine. It gives you energy and it's very creative. Anyway, Captain Jack and grew 48 plants along with Geoffrey Iverson, another geneticist out of San Francisco, and it just grew from there.
KEVIN POLOWY: How did these folks in rural Oregon respond when you set up shop there, you started growing there? I mean, yeah, it was legal, but I'm sure there was maybe a little bit of a surprise from your neighbors there.
JIM BELUSHI: Well, I'll be honest with you. Oregon is a very, very cool state. Super cool. It has really different demographics from very conservative to very liberal. I'm kind of in a more of a rural area and, you know, they look to me like, what is this guy doing? What's he going to do?
And by the way, the cannabis industry in Oregon was like, we don't need no Hollywood guy here. We grow the greatest marijuana in the country, which, by the way, Oregon does. When those borders go down, Oregon in northern California is going to be like Napa is to wine.
I had to earn my way in the cannabis industry and in the neighborhood. I just became part of the community, but it took me time to earn my way there. Now I consider myself an Oregonian.
KEVIN POLOWY: Are you the first to try your own strands?
JIM BELUSHI: Well, I'm kind of a lightweight. Black Diamond that we have is a really great medicine. My veterans love it. Then I have one called Chocolate Hashberry, which I'm scared of, like 28 THC. And I'm like no, no, no.
KEVIN POLOWY: Yeah.
JIM BELUSHI: I have this thing called Cherry Pie which I really like because it's a low THC, like a 19, and it has about 3% terpenes. Terpenes are the flavor. Like when you take a sip of wine, you go [SNIFF] mm, earthy feeling.
And the combination of the two together creates an entourage effect that just chills you, and your wife doesn't even know if you took a hit. And I mean, there's a story I tell where I came down the stairs one night and my wife said, are you hungry? And I said, yeah. She goes, what do have a taste for? I said, a cheeseburger.
And she goes, oh, that's a little heavy for me. Is there anything else? There's-- how about that sushi place down the street? She goes, oh, honey, I had sushi my mom last night. Anything else? I'm like, why are you even bothering to ask me if you're-- whoa, whoa, whoa.
So the next night, I took one hit of the Cherry Pie, came downstairs to-- she was like 10 of them. She goes, are you hungry? Yeah. Is there any place you'd like to go to eat? And I go, baby, we can go to Taco Bell as long as you're sitting across from me.
Aren't you being charming? Oh, am I? So I called it the marriage counselor. Cherry pie, right?
KEVIN POLOWY: You started selling Blues Brothers products. I believe their joints. Tell us about those. I think the response has been pretty good so far.
JIM BELUSHI: Well, yeah, that's the opening of the second season, and that is-- we're selling out of Blues Brothers. Baby Blues are these little 0.25 joints, you know, in a little six pack. Danny calls them parking lot joints, meaning like before you go to your shift from 11:00 to 7:00, you'll get out of the car, you'll take a couple hits, you toss it like a cigarette butt, and you're ready to work all night on those engines.
KEVIN POLOWY: The Belushi name in general means so much to so many people. Your late brother John remains so beloved. Is there anything you do to celebrate John's life and legacy in your own life that you can share with us?
JIM BELUSHI: Oh, yeah. Well, one is putting the Blues Brothers on this cannabis because, you know, he died of a drug overdose. And I really think if he was-- Danny said it. If he was a pothead, he'd be alive today because it's a great medicine. I believe he had CTE for playing football, and I believe a lot of his behavior stemmed from that.
So I honor him every day with this brand. But also, I do the Blues Brothers with Danny Aykroyd. And at the end of the show, I stopped the show, and we dedicated "She Caught the Katy" to Jake Blues. So yeah, Danny and I tried to bring them down to the stage in that last song, you know.
There's an old saying that goes like this-- when you drink the water, remember the men or women who dug the well. John dug the well for me. I'm drinking a lot of water.
I'd be working at my dad's restaurant right now if it wasn't for John showing that there's another way, another profession. John led a path for me that I've been enjoying this great life and, of course, I honor him.