Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s startup non-profit cannabis company – whose profits go to grants to black marijuana entrepreneurs and to help people imprisoned on drug charges
- Ben Cohen started a cannabis non-profit to end the war on drugs
- He will give 80 percent of the profits to black cannabis entrepreneurs
- The Ben & Jerry’s co-founder will launch his products in Vermont next month
One of Ben & Jerry’s co-founders 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 non-profit cannabis line with a stated mission to help right the wrongs of the war on drugs.
The company says on its website that 80 percent of its profits will go to grants to black cannabis entrepreneurs, with the rest split evenly between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which works to release people incarcerated. for cannabis offences.
The B3 products, including pre-rolled joints with lower 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 consequences for people of color, according to the program’s website.
Ben Cohen started Ben’s Best Blnz, a non-profit cannabis line with a stated mission to help right the wrongs of the war on drugs
According to the website, 80 percent of profits go to grants to black cannabis entrepreneurs
“The War on Drugs (first named by President Richard Nixon) has targeted lower-income black and brown people through excessive policing, discriminatory prosecutions and discriminatory sentencing,” the website states.
“That’s why black people, despite using weed to the same extent, are 4 times more likely to be arrested than white people.”
Ben’s Best Blnz, or B3, says it licenses its formulas, packaging, trademarks and marketing materials to for-profit companies that pay a royalty. After deducting the costs, the royalties are donated to charity.
The cannabis is grown in soil without the use of non-organic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, according to the website.
The remainder of the profits will be split equally between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which works to free people incarcerated for cannabis offenses
Some products advertised on the B3 website contain full spectrum live resin vapes made from “fresh frozen whole plants”
A special edition with a high THC content, the 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 is seen above with his co-founder Jerry Greenfield in 2009
Some products advertised on the B3 website contain full spectrum live resin vapes made from “fresh frozen whole plants.”
The website states that the product is “as close as possible to smoking fresh flowers.” But so much more discreet.’
A special edition with a high THC content, the HiTest Buds, is also being advertised.
Pre-rolls, known as Blended SloSmokes, are also offered.