Denver, CO. July 13, 2020 – Colorado Public Radio’s podcast “On Something,” exploring the political, legal and cultural effects of cannabis legalization, launches its second season next week with a special interview. Music legend Willie Nelson joins host Ann Marie Awad to discuss his impact on country music and the impact cannabis has had on him – including his first interactions with it, his personal and political relationship with it, questions around cannabis and the criminal justice system and his influence on the legalization movement.
“We need to end the federal ban on cannabis, stop putting people in prison for it, and we need to open up the federal banking system and accept taxes nationally,” Nelson told Awad. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Season two will also explore stories from the intersection of cannabis and the American healthcare system. Listeners will meet a mother who faced allegations of child abuse after smoking weed while pregnant; talk with a pain researcher who, while battling cancer, used cannabis to treat herself; and visit Louisiana for an amusing origin story on the nation’s first medical marijauna law. A preview of Season two can be found here.
Last season the podcast told stories of how pot first became illegal and how states addressed old cannabis-related convictions for crimes that are in many cases no longer illegal. Season one also looked at the conflict between legalization and immigration laws, the sometimes vague science behind CBD products and the question of whether legalization should be approached as a form of reparations for the War on Drugs.
The show also responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a series of bonus episodes that featured personal stories about how people are using weed to cope with these anxious times.
“The biggest changes in drug policy in America are happening in the states,” says Ann Marie Awad. “On Something, through the power of personal stories and in-depth journalism, helps listeners understand what life after legalization means.”
With a view from Colorado — the first state to sell recreational cannabis in 2014 — “On Something” tells stories about the people caught up in America’s state-by-state approach to drug policy; stories that detail the unexpected ways that legal cannabis intersects with our healthcare system, our immigration laws andour modern LGBTQ rights movement; stories that are thought-provoking, controversial and human. “On Something” is public radio on weed. Season two premieres on July 14th.
Awad’s reporting has earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 (for cannabis industry coverage) and 2016, as well as the Colorado Broadcasters Association in 2016. She was selected as a 2016 scholar by the New Voices Scholar Association of Independents in Radio (AIR). Ann Marie also received an Edward R. Murrow Award for Hard News in 2015, as well as awards for Best Feature and Best Sound from the Louisiana AP Broadcasters Association in 2014.
For media kit or questions, contact Jodi Gersh, [email protected].
