Everything under the sun can be found on YouTube—even cannabis. But recently, people who watch and post weed-related videos to the site began to see a purge. YouTube’s cannabis channels have lost chunks of their content, big sections of their audiences, and—in some cases—a revenue stream. The reasons why are open to speculation, as YouTube has made no statement on the matter. But hey, you know who’s awesome at stoned speculation? (Points to self, forgets is holding bong, drenches lap. Again.)
Some fun facts about YouTube: It was started waaaaay back in 2005, and by 2014 there were more than 300 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute of every day. It has over one billion users, nearly a third of all people on the internet. It’s the third-most visited website in the world, is the second largest search engine (Google is number one, and just happens to own YouTube), and receives 15 billion visits per month.
Create your own channel, and by becoming a Google AdSense partner you can earn some money, with YouTube keeping 55 percent of revenue from ads placed at the start of your videos. The program does not allow ad placement onto cannabis channels, which is categorized as “age restricted content.” Instead, channel owners can sell sponsorships and merchandise, and enter into branded content deals.
Cannabis channels are fantastic educational tools for growers and consumers to share strain and grow information, and they’ve also been great for activists, medical caregivers, patients, and, well, stoners. (I learned how to build my first vaporizer out of a fishbowl and a wood burner by watching YouTube.)
