A Ben & Jerry‘s co-founder has shifted his focus from ice cream to “blunts,” pledging to offer a range of cannabis products with a societal purpose.
Ben Cohen has launched “Ben’s Best Blnz,” a non-profit cannabis brand that aims to address the injustices of the war on drugs. The company has announced that 80% of its earnings will be dedicated to grants for Black cannabis entrepreneurs. The remaining funds will be split equally between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the Last Prisoner Project, a national organization striving to release individuals imprisoned for cannabis-related crimes. The firm’s website provides this information.
“The War on Drugs (first so named by President Richard Nixon) has targeted lower income Black and Brown people thru over policing, discriminatory prosecution, and discriminatory sentencing,” the website says. “That’s why despite using pot at the same rate, Black people are 4 times more likely to be arrested than Whites.”
Ben’s Best Blnz (B3) has declared that it grants licenses for its formulas, packaging, trademarks, and marketing materials to profitable enterprises that pay a royalty. Once expenditures are subtracted, the royalties are donated to a cause.
B3’s merchandise, such as pre-rolled joints containing lower quantities of the psychoactive element THC, is scheduled to be available in cannabis stores throughout Vermont by the following month.
