Jim Belushi believes pot would have saved his brother John

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 8/20/2020, 11:35 a.m.
Actor Jim Belushi is so pro-cannabis that he's now in the industry and says he believes his brother John would …
Jim Belushi talked on his new reality show about the loss of his brother John Belushi./Credit: Getty

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) -- Actor Jim Belushi is so pro-cannabis that he's now in the industry and says he believes his brother John would still be alive if he had been a "pot head."

"Growing Belushi" premiered Wednesday night on Discovery and the reality show follows Jim Belushi's efforts to grow his legal cannabis farm in Oregon.

On the debut episode he talked about his brother, famed "Saturday Night Live" and "Animal House" star John Belushi, who died at 33 of a cocaine and heroin overdose at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles in 1982.

Jim Belushi said he believes his older brother suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy as a result of playing football in high school.

"He was a middle linebacker," Belushi said on the show. "I know he had damage to the brain. As soon as alcohol and drugs were available to him I think he went right to (self) medication."

CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain disease which can be caused by repetitive trauma to the brain such as those suffered by some football players when hit on the field.

"In the 70s, if they knew what we knew today about marijuana and the healing benefits I think my brother John would still be alive," Jim Belushi said.

Weeks ago the Belushi's Farm Instagram account shared a black and white photo of John Belushi appearing to smoke with a quote from Jim Belushi stating "If my brother John was a pot head, he'd still be here today."

"And that's why Jim is so passionate about the healing power of cannabis, trauma, and the opioid epidemic," the post reads.

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