Jim Belushi is on a crusade for cannabis, driven in part by the death of his brother John, but propelled even more by meeting an Iraqi war vet who uses weed to keep healthy.
“That veteran changed my life,” Belushi told Fox News, explaining how the former army medic learned how to cope with “triple PTSD” by using cannabis.
The comedian is making the rounds promoting his new three-part series called Growing Belushi, which chronicles the antics on his Oregon cannabis farm.
Belushi, however, is particularly serious when it comes to the death of his brother and family trauma.
“My brother, I think, suffered from CTE,” Jim explained, saying John had brain damage after years of high-school football, getting the most tackles of anyone on the team.
“Senior year he seizured in our home, and we didn’t know what it was.”
He says cannabis would have probably saved his brother’s life.”I believe what Dan Aykroyd says: ‘If John was a pothead he’d be alive today,’ ” he said.
“There are so many people suffering out there,” Belushi said. “There are traumas.”
“[The] No 1 fear in life is death. The No 2 fear in life is collapse of family.
“Families collapse from alcoholism, from divorce, from someone who dies in their family … from seizures or severe illness, losing a big job, losing your home. We’re all in trauma and we’re screaming inside and we make other choices like alcohol or Xanax or Ambient.
“All I’m saying is from my experience with veterans especially is that cannabis is safe, clean and peaceful.”
Growing Belushi airs Wednesdays on Discovery.