Another celebrity brand has hit the market, and this time it’s Peaches crooner, Justin Bieber. The cannabis community has had mixed reviews about it. On the one hand, some find it dope that a mainstream star like the Biebs is stepping into the world of weed! But for others, it feels like another celebrity name on a package full of mids and it’s truly irritating at this point. It’s why we as a cannabis community have trust issues with celebrity collabs.
It’s very confusing when a celebrity, who doesn’t use their platform to talk about, publicly use or advocate for weed, suddenly drops a new strain. The legacy community of growers, manufacturers, trappers, and advocates who took the risks, put in the work, and are struggling to survive, have to now compete against this? Great!
If Justin Bieber releasing a flower brand grinds your gears, well then prepare yourself, because it’s about to get much, much worse. As cannabis becomes more mainstream, more people will be publicly exiting the cannabis closet, including the rich and the famous. I think it’s time we embrace it, and we the cannabis community can benefit from this.
BIEBER & THE BIGGER PICTURE
We still need full legalization of the cannabis plant and the release of all cannabis prisoners and people who are in court-appointed rehab for a plant. What better way to normalize cannabis than to have a global artist take a very public stance the way Justin Bieber has? And we the cannabis community should hold these artists, creators, and entertainers to a few standards.
For starters, what are you doing to help bring awareness about freeing the people in prison? How are you telling the world about the plant’s benefits? How are you partnering with the real cannabis community and not just the new, business conglomerates who don’t have a clue about the culture? What are you doing to uplift legacy growers? Are you a culture vulture or are you down for the cause?!
Now let’s analyze Justin Bieber. He’s aligned himself with The Last Prisoner Project, and Veteran’s Walk and Talk, both very smart moves. LPP advocates for criminal justice reform, and Colin Wells’ story of why he started Veteran’s Walk and Talk is a story and organization directly connected to the culture. Both wins.
We also must remember Justin Bieber’s popular weed tune with the cannabis legend himself, Snoop Dogg. Snoop is arguably the king of cannabis, and we have to acknowledge this point because it was a smart marketing move and we were all just singing that song last summer. Yes, you were too.
Can there be some improvements from the Biebs? Sure. For example, maybe tap into the culture to try your cannabis. I mean those promo boxes look great when a blue checkmark with tons of followers posts it, but we the culture know good cannabis. And if you know your product is the real deal, get it to the real smokers. We’ll be honest.
It’s not that you need our approval, but may I remind you about our trust issues with celebrities and their flower lines? The Kings of Mids. Truly. And I’m sure they’re not trying to purposely sell bad cannabis, but that’s the risk you take when you’re not tapped into the culture. You get led astray by the wrong people.
Ladies and gentlemen, the writing is on the wall. Celebrities are in the cannabis world and they’re here to stay. Maybe they’ve been down with the herb their entire career but were unable to express that due to the powers that be. We can’t assume that all celebrities are cannabis-ignorant when it comes to good flowers. And how beautiful of a time was it when you stepped out of the cannabis closet?
So I say, let’s celebrate this win. We the community need their help, and they could use ours, too. We can’t finish this mission alone and let’s hope that as the stars continue to enter the cannabis world, that they do so with the intention to free the people, and free the plant, too.
Tammy Pettigrew is the founder of The Cannabis Cutie.
She covers cannabis history, laws, science, and news.
