These cannabis companies are taking steps towards social equity. Image by twenty20photos
An increasing number of cannabis companies are making efforts towards highlighting social equity in their missions.
These businesses help support many causes, like working against racism, educating underfunded communities, funding research, assisting those incarcerated for cannabis and more. In addition, some focus on sustainability, green energy and keeping the environment clean.
The devotion of brands to go above and beyond their sales, and to donate some of their proceeds, time, and support, falls into the realm of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR helps hold brands accountable to doing good and making a positive impact on the world, according to Investopedia.
Overall, there’s a large number of cannabis companies dedicated to social equity, but here are ten brands to support and restock with after 4/20.
LEUNE
In the industry, LEUNE realizes that they have a platform, according to their website. They want to use their platform to, “help bring awareness to social injustice and inspire true, positive change.” The company focuses on uplifting Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities through raising funds and awareness.
LEUNE sells cartridges, pods, vaporizers, pre-rolls, edibles and flower. Also, they recently dropped Gem Drops, which are edible gummies with 5mg of THC. Their products are sold through different flavor lenses – Naked, Cloud Berry, Sol Berry, Desert Gold, Piña Dream and Calibre. LEUNE is found in dispensaries in California and can be delivered online.
Consistently, LEUNE is dedicated to giving back and making a change. Through different launches and initiatives, the brand partners with many charities. They partnered with the Last Prisoner Project, the charity that fights to set those incarcerated over cannabis free. LEUNE also teamed up with Broccoli Magazine’s Floret Coalition, a group of small businesses dedicated to combating racism and supporting actions towards equity like social campaigns and donations. They sponsor Eaze Momentum, which supports underrepresented individuals to diversify the cannabis industry. In a pride movement, LEUNE donated money from their pod sales to benefit Equality California, dedicated to social justice for all.
SeaWeed Naturals
SeaWeed Naturals, according to their website, is the first of their kind. They established “the first premium wellness brand that fuses the rejuvenating benefits of the ocean with the healing properties of the cannabis plant.” Likewise, they are working to restore the ocean and biodiversity, provide sustainable jobs and fight climate change.
They take their inspiration from the polluted ocean, destroyed coral reefs and warmer ocean temperatures. Furthermore, as a brand, they are working to sustain and restore the ocean through seaweed. According to their website, seaweed absorbs carbon dioxide, produces healthy marine ecosystems, protects shorelines, and supplies oxygen into the water. Five percent of their profits go towards ocean education, protection and restoration. To support the ocean, they support EarthEcho and AltaSea’s Project Blue.
Their premium ocean and plant botanical formulas combine cannabis, seaweed and algae to create psychoactive and non-psychoactive products. The secret behind the products – seaweed and algae hydrate, promote collagen production, treat hyperpigmentation and reduce inflammation. They’re also great sources of amino acids, antioxidants, vitamin C and Omega-3 fatty acids.
Support SeaWeed Naturals by purchasing their lip balm, body oil, balm, tinctures or gummies. These products aim to calm your skin and mind.
Do A Happy Dance
Kristen Bell started Do A Happy Dance as a mom-centered skincare brand, but anyone who needs calming is welcome. She wanted to create a self-care business to take care of caretakers. Their website features products like hand and eye creams, bath bombs and moisturizers.
Even better, 1% of all profits are donated to a New Way of Life Reentry Project. This organization is dedicated to providing housing, legal services, advocacy and leadership development to the formerly incarcerated. Moreover, according to their website, they have “provided housing to 1,200 formerly incarcerated women, helped reunite more than 400 women with their children, and provided pro bono legal services to more than 3,400 community members with conviction histories.”
Do A Happy Dance’s hemp products feature terpenes and rare cannabinoids to offer an elevated self care experience.
TONIC
Each month, TONIC donates a portion of their sales to a different nonprofit organization. Specifically, they look to support the communities who need and deserve it the most.
This April, TONIC is benefitting the Cannabis Health Equity Movement (CHEM) Allyance. This nonprofit focuses on benefiting the community through education, development and collaborative investment with its partners. CHEM Allyance wants to demonstrate that cannabis is a part of health equity, full health and wellbeing.
TONIC also preaches sustainability. Their farming is biodynamic and responsible – soil and seeds are organic and they use companion planting to enrich terpenes and keep pests away. They responsibly source and grow their hemp to ensure that nothing gets wasted.
They have a wide array of products. Self care goods include face and body oils, body butter and bath soaks. They also feature extracts, vape pens, flower, edibles, pet products, room sprays and more. It’s easy to feel good with TONIC’s clean look and brand while doing good to support one of their monthly nonprofits.
BROWN GIRL JANE
BROWN GIRL JANE’s mission is clear and consistent. Specifically, they aim to “support and advance the wellness and beauty of women of color through entrepreneurship, advocacy and education.” They find that policymakers ignore the wellness needs of women of color. The brand started the BROWN GIRL JANE Foundation to bring the change through civic engagement, activism, research and education to address health and beauty concerns.
Their work centers around legislative initiatives to health equity, research to support solutions to health issues for women of color and fund beauty and wellness. According to their website, women of color are disproportionately affected by stress, chronic pain, maternal health and sleep deprivation. They want to make the change. While partnering with Shea Moisture and Vaseline, the BROWN GIRL JANE Foundation granted over $405,000.
From BROWN GIRL JANE’s wellness collection, they have ingestible CBD drops for balance and rest and CBD gelées. In skin care, they offer a healing body butter, a facial serum and a hemp extract body oil, all infused with CBD. The website also includes candles, fragrances and more.
Their cool-girl aesthetic and products will leave skin glowing and the body hydrated and relaxed, all while supporting advocacy, legislation and research for BROWN GIRL JANE.
Ananda Farms
Ananda Farms has their own independent non-profit organization called the Veteran’s Ananda. They commit to helping heal and rehabilitate U.S. Armed Service Members, veterans and first responders. Overall, Veteran’s Ananda wants to help people live “happy, productive and fulfilling lives at home and in their communities.”
Moreover, they achieve their mission by offering free medical, psychological and spiritual care to those they support and family members. Veteran’s Ananda uses short retreats and post-traumatic growth programs to integrate therapies, peace and positive relationships. Their main goal is to strengthen the physical, emotional, spiritual and economic well-being of those that they serve.
Ananda Farms donates ten percent of their proceeds to Veteran’s Ananda. Consumers can shop their vegan CBD capsules, massage oils, tinctures and warming and cooling rubs. All of their products have an official “Homegrown by Heroes” certification, proving it was locally grown by a veteran.
NUG
As a supporter of Oakland’s social equity cannabis program, NUG wants to help provide legal cannabis opportunities to those affected by the War on Drugs.
John Oram, NUG CEO and founder, said that it’s a privilege to provide a platform to start-up businesses through the lens of social equity. They’re looking to make a positive change in cannabis policy overall, according to their website. NUG provides “start-up funds and a state-of-the-art fully automated greenhouse” with features to help support cultivation.
NUG’s products are award winning – they won third place at the High Times’ 2019 Cannabis Cup for their Kandy Kush hybrid concentrate. In addition, their website claims they perfected “the strain genetics, the cultivation, flower processing, cannabinoid extractions, infusions, and packing” to supply the best possible products to California dispensaries.
Shop their wide array of products – flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, vapes and edibles – to make a positive change towards equity.
40 Tons
Partnering with Oaksterdam University, 40 Tons works to educate the underserved communities on cannabis. They help teach horticulture, business, budtending and extracts and manufacturing. Also, they give scholarships at career fair events called “Canna Get a 2nd Chance.”
40 Tons also works to free prisoners incarcerated for cannabis. They want to “give a voice to the voiceless.” They also believe “that no one should spend a lifetime in prison for a plant that many consume and profit from legally.”
As a social impact brand, 40 Tons donates their merchandise proceeds to help those incarcerated for cannabis. Also, STIILZY stores in California sell their products. Moreover, they aim to offer equity and second chances for the underrepresented, and they overall help support employers that support the community.
Cannabis Doing Good
Racial equity, sustainability, community benefits and people-centered are all part of Cannabis Doing Good’s mission. They work through consulting, selling products, hosting events and offering memberships. Also, they have a blog to learn more about doing good.
With their consulting, Cannabis Doing Good focuses on cannabis social responsibility, improving employee engagement, social equity and nonprofit partnerships. For products, they offer racial-equity self assessments, anti racism training and other badges.
The female-founded company ranks as one of the Top 100 Cannabis Companies in the US for work in social responsibility. For example, some of the businesses they partner with include the Minority Cannabis Business Association, Minorities for Medical Marijuana and the Drug Policy Alliance.
In sum, Cannabis Doing Good hopes in the future that the industry will have racial and environmental justice.
Tokeativity
Tokeativity offers chapters all around the country that commit to social equity. For instance, they produce free marketing for women and BIPOC-owned business, and they also donate to many nonprofits, like Black Lives Matter, Minorities For Medical Marijuana, the NAACP, ACLU Planned Parenthood and many more. Their dedication to anti-racism is shown through free access to events through a scholarship program.
Also, Tokeativity helps focus on issues that women of color face in politics and leadership positions. Through their memberships, they connect creativity, social causes, politics and feminist activities to create changes in the industry.
Tokeativity emphasizes that they believe in “cannabis normalization, equity and empowerment of a modern consumption culture.”
Leave a Reply