Ben Cohen has started Ben's Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis line with a stated mission of helping to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. The company says on its website that 80% of its profits will go to grants for Black cannabis entrepreneurs while the rest will be equally divided between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which is working to free people incarcerated for cannabis offences.
Ben's Best Blnz, or B3, says it licenses its formulas, packaging, trademarks, and marketing materials to for-profit businesses that pay a royalty. After expenses are deducted, the royalties are donated to the cause. The cannabis is grown in soil using no nonorganic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, the website states.
The B3 products, including pre-rolled joints with lower levels of the psychoactive compound THC, are expected to be available in cannabis shops in Vermont next month.