Weed Country was a six-episode Discovery Channel reality series that premiered on February 20, 2013, and followed marijuana growers, a dispensary owner and law enforcement on both sides of the California-Oregon border. It ran for one season, ending March 27, 2013. It was one of the first cable shows to treat the medical marijuana trade of the Emerald Triangle as prime-time entertainment, and some of its cast stayed in the news for years afterward.
What Happened
Discovery announced the series in February 2013 as half of a “Weed Wednesday” lineup: Pot Cops at 9 p.m. Eastern and Weed Country at 10 p.m. Entertainment Weekly described the show’s setting as the Emerald Triangle, “a remote, fertile green goldmine on the border of Northern California and Oregon,” and its premise as a fight between growers, dealers and the authorities. The series was produced by All3Media America.
The cast, as listed by Zap2it during the run, was:
- Mike and Tawni Boutin, growers who ran a collective in Trinity County, California, according to a CelebStoner review. Tawni grew; Mike moved the product.
- Matt Shotwell, former operator of the Greenwell dispensary in Vallejo, which police had raided.
- Nate Morris, a grower who made a CBD-rich tincture, and B.E. Smith, a Trinity County grower who had been arrested for cultivation in 1999.
- Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey and Sgt. Mike Gilley, who commanded the county’s marijuana enforcement team.
- Lt. Matt Thomson, described by CelebStoner as the SWAT team leader for Jackson County, Oregon.
The Redding Record Searchlight reported that the preview opened with a drug bust in the Siskiyou County city of Weed, a town of about 3,000 named for lumberman Abner Weed. In it, Lopey called illegal grows “a problem of epidemic proportions.”
Our original post on March 13, 2013, previewed the fourth episode, “Unarmed and Dangerous,” which drew about 1.1 million viewers. Ratings for the six episodes ranged from roughly 0.93 million to 1.12 million.
Background
California had allowed medical marijuana since Proposition 215 in 1996, and Oregon since 1998, but neither state had a licensed commercial market in 2013. That gray zone was what the show dramatized. Viewers and critics questioned how much of it was staged. CelebStoner’s reviewer wrote that after six episodes “very little of consequence ever happens,” and the show drew the same “scripted reality” complaints that followed Discovery’s Moonshiners.
What Happened Next
Discovery did not order a second season. Several cast members kept making news:
- Matt Shotwell: On March 21, 2013, while the series was still airing, a Solano County judge dismissed the year-old charges against him. A prosecutor told the court the state could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the Vallejo Times-Herald reported.
- The Boutins: In May 2018 the Associated Press reported that federal prosecutors in Jackson, Tennessee, had indicted Michael and Tawni Boutin, then of Medford, Oregon, on charges including manufacturing and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute. Agents said they found about 20 pounds of marijuana and 3 pounds of hash oil in a house and the couple’s tour bus. We did not find a documented outcome of that case.
Where It Stands in 2026
Both states in the show later legalized adult use: Oregon with Measure 91 in 2014 and California with Proposition 64 in 2016. Current rules are in our Oregon marijuana laws and California marijuana laws guides. Illegal grows in southern Oregon and far Northern California are still a law enforcement priority, and legal shops in the region are listed in our Oregon dispensary directory. For more films and shows, see our marijuana documentaries list.
Weed Country FAQ
When did Weed Country air?
Discovery Channel aired six episodes on Wednesday nights from February 20 to March 27, 2013.
Where was Weed Country filmed?
In the Emerald Triangle region of Northern California and along the Oregon border, including Siskiyou and Trinity counties and the city of Weed, California, with a Vallejo storyline as well.
Who was the sheriff on Weed Country?
Siskiyou County, California, Sheriff Jon Lopey. Sgt. Mike Gilley led his marijuana team, and Lt. Matt Thomson of Jackson County, Oregon, led SWAT scenes.
Was Weed Country renewed?
No. It ran for a single six-episode season.
What happened to Mike and Tawni Boutin?
They were indicted on federal marijuana charges in Tennessee in 2018, according to the AP. The case outcome is not documented in the sources we found.
Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.