by Sandy Cohen, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Bob Barker famously closed each episode of "The Price Is Right" with a pitch to spay and neuter pets. His successor is taking a stand on a more controversial subject: marijuana.

"Smell that smell," the 49-year-old comedian says as he walks into a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary. "That‘s the smell of freedom."

Carey offered to produce brief documentaries on topics ranging from traffic congestion to immigration for the foundation‘s Web site, Nott said.

It‘s Carey‘s everyman appeal that likely helped him land the coveted job as host of "The Price Is Right." But executives from CBS and Fremantle Media, which produces "Price," had no comment Thursday about Carey‘s extracurricular work.

"I think it‘s clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana," Carey says in the video. "People who need it should be able to get it — safely and easily."

"Twenty years ago, this would have been career suicide," said longtime celebrity publicist Michael Levine. "But in the early part of the 21st century, a guy like Drew Carey can come out with his position, and it will not injure him."

"In this day and age, where everything is electronic, everybody knows everything about everyone," he said. "Twenty years ago, Drew Carey could have had the same views and nobody would have known or thought anything of it."

Since Carey is so new to "Price," he‘s taking a risk speaking out on such a controversial topic, said Bonnie Diczhazy, who runs a "Price Is Right" fan site. People naturally connect him with the show, said Diczhazy, a 38-year-old artist from Cleveland.

"The younger generation could learn something," she said, adding that the medical-marijuana video "doesn‘t affect whether or not I watch the show at all."

Carey‘s mini-documentaries will appear every two weeks through the end of the year on Reason.tv, Nott said. Future topics include eminent domain, school choice and immigration.

Meanwhile, "The Price Is Right" host will continue to close daily episodes with Barker‘s traditional spay-and-neuter refrain.