'Weed Wars' on Discovery Channel, about the medical cannabis industry, is part of reality TV's growing interest in shows revolving around illicit substances. 'Weed Wars' on Discovery Channel, about the medical cannabis industry, is part of reality TV's growing interest in shows revolving around illicit substances.

"By selling the amount of cannabis that I've sold, I am now eligible for more than three federal death penalties." So says Steve DeAngelo, protagonist of the Discovery Channel miniseries "Weed Wars," at the beginning of each episode, immediately alerting viewers that this is not standard reality TV. As founder and executive director of Oakland-based Harborside Health Center — a medical-marijuana collective that DeAngelo claims is "the largest cannabis dispensary on the entire planet" — he won't be voted off the island or lose the singing competition in the final round. Instead, DeAngelo faces severe legal consequences for the activities documented in "Weed Wars," which airs its first season finale Thursday.

"Weed Wars" offers unprecedented access into the medicinal-cannabis universe, from entrepreneur-activists like DeAngelo to growers, sellers and patients, all operating on the edge of legality.

"It's the first real chance that [medical cannabis] providers have had to get their own story out there," notes Aaron Lachant, associate at Los Angeles-based Fenton Nelson, who runs the healthcare-focused law firm's medical-marijuana litigation practice. "Previously, the narrative around medical marijuana has always been dominated by state and federal government, city councils and the Drug Enforcement Administration. This show helps make it a national debate, and not just a California issue."