The Ben & Jerry’s co-founder started a non-profit cannabis company – with profits going to grants for black marijuana entrepreneurs and to help free people imprisoned on drug charges
- Ben Cohen started a nonprofit cannabis organization to reverse the war on drugs
- He will give 80 percent of the profits to black cannabis entrepreneurs
- The Ben & Jerry co-founder will launch his products in Vermont next month
The Ben & Jerry’s cofounder has gone from ice cream to “blunts,” promising a line of marijuana products with a social mission.
Ben Cohen, 72, started Ben’s Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis group with a stated mission to help right the wrongs of the War on Drugs.
On its website, the company says 80 percent of its profits will go to grants for black cannabis entrepreneurs while the remainder will be split equally between the Vermont Alliance for Racial Justice and the National Prisoner’s Last Project, which works to free people imprisoned for cannabis crimes. .
B3 products, including pre-rolled joints with low levels of the psychoactive compound THC, are expected to be available in Vermont cannabis stores next month.
Cohen’s goal is to reverse the War on Drugs and its impact on people of color, according to the program’s website.
Ben Cohen started Ben’s Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis organization with a stated mission to help right the wrongs of the War on Drugs.
According to the website, 80 percent of its profits will go to grants for black cannabis entrepreneurs
“The war on drugs (which was first named by President Richard Nixon) has targeted low-income black and brown people through policing, discriminatory prosecution, and discriminatory sentencing,” the site states.
This is why even though pot is used at the same rate, black people are four times more likely to be arrested than white people.
Ben’s Best Blnz, or B3, says it licenses its formulas, packaging, brands, and marketing materials to for-profit companies that pay a royalty. After expenses are deducted, the royalties are donated to the cause.
Hemp is grown in the soil without the use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, as the site notes.
The remaining profits will be split equally between the Vermont Racial Justice Coalition and the National Last Prisoner Project, which works to free people imprisoned for cannabis crimes.
Some of the products advertised on the B3 website include full spectrum live resin vapes made from “fresh frozen whole plants”
A high-THC special edition product known as HiTest Buds is also being advertised
Cohen’s goal is to reverse the War on Drugs and its impact on people of color
Ben Cohen can be seen above with his co-founder Jerry Greenfield in 2009
Some of the products advertised on the B3 website include full spectrum vapes made from “fresh frozen whole plants”.
The website states that the product is “as close as you can get to smoking fresh flowers.” But much more discrete.
A high-THC special edition product known as HiTest Buds is also being advertised.
Pre-rolls referred to as Blended SloSmokes are also offered.
