New Mexico dispensary launches Jim Belushi’s cannabis strains

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fans of Jim Belushi may recognize a particular sitcom opener but we are talking cannabis – According to Jim.

With his trusty dog, Taro, by his side, Belushi was in New Mexico talking about his passion project.

“The mission really is about the medicine,” Belushi said. “For me, it started with – I visited dispensaries and I talked to people in dispensaries and everybody I talked to from the budtenders to the customers, there’s always a story. And every story is about the medical benefits that I hear.”

Belushi’s Farm is in Oregon. It’s 93 acres along the Rogue River. He started with 48 plants and it has grown extensively.

“I’ve been growing for the past 7 years. It’s a real education. I am now a farmer. Farming is difficult. It is not easy. But it is so beautiful,” Belushi said.

For him, though, cannabis is deeply personal. You can tell whenever he talks about his brother, legendary actor John Belushi. John died at just 33 years old.

“My brother died of a drug [heroin] overdose and people are dying every day from fentanyl, from drug overdoses and it’s just sickening to me. And cannabis is not a drug. It’s not a gateway to harder drugs. It’s a gateway to healing,” Jim Belushi expressed.

“I think if John was a pothead, he’d be alive today.”

So, what made Jim Belushi choose New Mexico and Seven Clover Dispensaries?

“Well, Seven Clovers, they’ve been around for quite a while. Their cultivation techniques come from the legacy market, which means they’ve been growing for a long time,” Belushi said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve been doing a lot of cultivation and these guys know what they’re doing.’ They’re organic. They love the plant. They love the medicine and it was natural for me to partner up with them.”

Now, Seven Clover is cultivating the cannabis strains needed to produce Belushi’s line of products – including one he jokes could help your love life.

“I have a strain called cherry pie that I call the ‘marriage counselor.’ When you smoke, it’s really not strong. It’s just very nice. When you smoke it, everything your partner says sounds beautiful,” Belushi said.

Belushi’s cannabis has been in Seven Clover stores since the end of June. This week, he was in town for the hard launch – and to meet his fans and customers.

He also fell in love with New Mexico.

Jim Belushi: “There’s a feeling when you’re cultivating, when you’re growing, of being just spiritually connected to the earth. That’s the kind of feeling I have here in New Mexico. It’s a really beautiful feeling here. They call it enchanted…”

Danielle Todesco: “The Land of Enchantment.”

Jim Belushi: “The Land of Enchantment, yes. I’m starting to feel that.”