MJ in Video Games: How the Gaming Industry Embraced Legalization
Over the past ten to twenty years, people’s attitudes toward cannabis have changed dramatically. What was once seen as a dangerous drug and a gateway to heroin addiction is now considered a medicine or something akin to having a couple of beers with friends after a tough day at work. Funny, I write this as if I’m sitting in a bar somewhere in Colorado or Vancouver. Alas, nothing has changed in Russia yet, just keeping you updated, dear readers. But for today’s discussion, we’ll have to dive into Western culture, since that’s where the gaming industry was born and grew to international proportions, giving us the games we love to play after a good smoke.
So get ready for a bit of gaming nostalgia and find out how attitudes toward cannabis have evolved in video games—and where you can grow your own virtual Super Lemon Haze.
Winners Don’t Use Drugs
The first video games available to the general public appeared in the 1970s, starting with arcade machines, then moving to home computers and consoles. During these years, the U.S. was in the midst of the War on Drugs, a government-led anti-drug campaign. No developer dared to release a game about growing cannabis or even show it in a positive light.
The first to break the mold was high school student John Dell, who created a game called Drug Wars as a school project. In it, you play as a dealer who has borrowed a large sum of money and must pay it back—or face the consequences. The gameplay is simple: buy low, sell high, all in a text-based interface. While it may not be exciting by today’s standards, Drug Wars is notable as the first video game to mention weed.
As technology advanced, consoles like the Atari, NES (known in Russia as Dendy), and SEGA Mega Drive became popular. The “shoot ’em up” genre thrived, with games like Gradius, Commando, and the well-known Contra. But our focus is on Narc (1988), where you play as a police officer fighting drug lords, shooting dealers, and arresting users. Cannabis is again portrayed as evil, but interestingly, in the 2005 PlayStation 2 remake, the main character can not only confiscate cannabis but also smoke it to slow down time. That’s some police work!
Until the 2000s, developers rarely mentioned cannabis in a positive or even neutral way. Authorities still saw it as a threat and heavily regulated the gaming industry. In 1989, the American Amusement Machine Association agreed to include the slogan “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” (coined by then-FBI Director William Sessions) in all their games. In 1994, the ESRB age rating system was introduced, which still affects game sales today. The industry climate discouraged publishers from making risky decisions for fear of lost revenue or legal trouble.
And Don’t Eat My Pizza! Cannabis as Part of the Story
The situation began to change in the 2000s, alongside shifts in legislation—some U.S. states started considering medical cannabis legalization. Game developers began to include weed in their storylines. As project budgets grew, so did the depth of their narratives and characters. After all, it’s hard to make a believable hippie character without mentioning weed, right?
“Right!” said the folks at Rockstar, who created a character literally named Truth. In 2004, they released GTA: San Andreas, the fifth installment in the popular series. In the mission “Are You Going to San Fierro?”, the main character Carl Johnson must burn several cannabis fields to prevent the feds from arresting the hippie Truth. As Carl torches the outdoor crop with a flamethrower, the screen starts to wobble, hinting that he’s getting high from the smoke.
The same activity—burning cannabis fields—appears in Far Cry 3 (2012), where the protagonist uses a flamethrower to destroy his enemy’s crops. But even before that, cannabis was referenced in Saints Row (2006), where you could smoke a joint and fog up your screen.
In GTA V (2013), you can smoke weed from a bong, with the process shown on screen. Michael and Franklin can use bongs, altering the game’s visuals, and Franklin can even buy a medical marijuana dispensary. GTA Online takes it further, letting players buy a cannabis farm and complete related missions.
Cannabis also appears in Rockstar’s L.A. Noire (2011). In the mission “Reefer Madness,” the main character investigates a case involving weed buds sealed in soup cans. But as a good detective, you don’t use the evidence.
In Battlefield Hardline (2015), there’s a multiplayer map set in an underground cannabis grow room. Like in the movie “The Gentlemen,” the lighting is suspiciously low for growing, but the workers still manage to raise huge plants. You know those underground grow rooms!
The strategy game Rimworld (2013) lets you grow a plant called smokeleaf. Colonists make joints from it to boost their mood, and the description mentions psychedelic effects—clearly a stand-in for cannabis. Mods let you create an entire industry, making not just joints but also hash, oil, and other products.
Cannabis also plays a small role in The Last of Us Part II (2020). While patrolling, main character Ellie and her friend Dina find a basement full of drying buds. They decide to smoke some weed, cuddle in their underwear, and fall asleep on the couch—because what could be smarter when zombies are lurking outside?
As you can see, over time, developers have become less afraid of backlash for including cannabis in games. Some even let the main character—who’s supposed to be the “good guy”—smoke weed, making the shift toward acceptance clear. But it’s even more obvious in games where growing cannabis is the main mechanic and core of the story.
The Main Character: The Grower
Growing a single cannabis plant takes not just fertilizer but patience. Of course, you’d like time in the grow box to move faster, but Doctor Who probably won’t lend you his TARDIS for such experiments. That’s where video games come in. In virtual reality, plants grow in 3-4 minutes, and you can feel like a pro grower or a successful dispensary owner.
Remember “Happy Farmer” on early VKontakte? You grew veggies, pulled weeds, and fertilized your plot—a cult flash game with over 3 million players. Around the same time, Pot Farm (2011) appeared on Facebook—a similar farming simulator focused on cannabis, which became a hit among American users. Besides farming, you could sell cannabis in your own dispensaries, share new strains with friends, and buy decorations for your land. The game is no longer supported, but its influence on later cannabis-themed economic simulators is undeniable.
With the rise of smartphones, more tycoon-type games appeared as mobile apps. For example, Hempire (2017) by Canada’s LBC Studio reached about 10 million installs in two years. You can grow cannabis, learn scientific facts about THC, and compete in the Hempire Cup with your strains. Unfortunately, the game isn’t available in the Russian App Store for obvious reasons.
Similar games include Weed Farm, Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm, WeedShop, and Weed Shop 2. A standout is Weedcraft Inc., known for its depth, graphics, and music. You play as a character who, after his father’s death, starts growing weed in his basement with his brother and gradually builds a cannabis empire. The game features real strain names and a soundtrack reminiscent of Cypress Hill’s “Hits from the Bong.” The growing process is detailed: you buy lights, substrate, install fans and air purifiers, balance NPK ratios, hire workers, and manage finances to avoid bankruptcy. At first, it feels like a clicker due to watering and defoliation mechanics, but it gets easier as you hire staff. It’s easy to get hooked for hours.
But it’s not just about economic simulators. Everyone’s heard of NFTs and metaverses, right? Cannabis games have reached them too. Flowerpatch is a blockchain project where you buy virtual land, grow cannabis, and earn NFT strain cards, which you can sell or use to grow new plants. The strains are fictional—some grow underwater or in snow, and there’s even crystal-shaped cannabis. Still, some enthusiasts are willing to pay 1 ETH (about $2,500) for a digital bud image. Why? That’s a rhetorical question.
Conclusion
That’s our cannabis gaming digest. Cannabis has gone from a background plot detail to the foundation of farming simulators in the gaming industry. If real-life growing isn’t enough, you can always enjoy virtual growing—build your own cannabis empire or just get lost in a good story after lighting up something nice.
Remember, you don’t have to finish a game if you’re not enjoying it—especially if you’re not having fun even when you’re high. In that case, make sure you actually turned on your console and aren’t just staring at the TV while pressing buttons on your controller.
Good luck & have fun!