The drug Colorado became infamous for is getting exposed. The not-so-dirty-little-secret you realize if you can see through Big Marijuana’s hazy propaganda at any candy-store-like pot shop: Today’s marijuana is anything but natural. 

As Leighton Woodhouse, investigative journalist and filmmaker says, “It has about as much resemblance to a marijuana plant as strawberry Kool-Aid has to strawberries.”

That quote comes from the trailer for the new documentary “THC INC | How Cannabis Legalization Changed Everything.” The film is Big Marijuana’s worst nightmare: a careful-yet-cutting dive into how legalization is affecting our health, particularly the health of our youth. 

“THC Inc.” makes its Colorado debut at a special screening at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in metro Denver at the Landmark Theater Greenwood Village. Afterward, there will be a panel discussion with audience Q&A about the film and the issues it explores. The event is organized by the national group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, whose president and CEO, Kevin Sabet, produced the documentary, and supported by Colorado’s One Chance to Grow Up.

Colorado, of course, was the country’s case study for legalization. The film pulls no punches, revealing the dangers behind THC products and substances long peddled as innocuous via cunning marketing campaigns.

The documentary humanizes the victims of an insidious, deceitful industry. It’s the testimonies of these young adults — Big Marijuana’s prime target consumer — that shatter the propaganda.

Marijuana isn’t addictive? “(I was) smoking every day from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed.” “My love for getting high and cannabis was even stronger.” “Either I figure it out, or drugs are going to take my whole life over.” “I tried every trick in the book just to get a better high.”

They’re quotes from young people profiled in the film. When you combine their stories with the lab-concocted, high-potency “products” that pass as pot these days, the impact of Colorado’s cannabis culture comes crashing down like the house of cards it is.

The cherry on top for the film’s case against high-potency pot is where candor often can be found in this Digital Age: the comments section — in this case, accompanying the film’s YouTube trailer. Sure, there are replies like one that says the film is “Reefer madness in 2026.” But not only is that the slim minority, the documentary itself does well to steer clear of the hyperbolic, cartoonish anti-weed propaganda of a century ago. Rather, it treats its subjects with a benevolent hope for their well-being of mind, body and soul — as well as its audience with intellectual respect.

Most of the comments reference even more anecdotes from people’s private lives, of loved ones who suffered psychological harm due to modern marijuana.

That’s the true reefer madness of today — how the commercialization and normalization of high-potency, ultra-processed marijuana products has harmed far too many Colorado kids’ physical and mental health. 

“The risks deserve far more honest public discussion,” one YouTube commenter says.

And a great place to start is by watching the film, so mark your calendars.

Admission is free, but seating is limited, so please reserve a spot at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thc-inc-colorado-movie-premiere-tickets-1996846071353?aff=oddtdtcreator