Jay-Z’s cannabis brand Monogram launches a nationwide campaign to bring awareness to the outdated cannabis laws.
Popular rapper and entreprenuer Jay-Z launched Monogram becoming among the few Black entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry. The cannabis brand also launched a new campaign to fight for law reforms around the sale and consumption of Cannabis.
This campaign was initiated following several years on the War On Drugs campaign that was instituted in June 1971 by then-President Richard Nixon. Though the drug prohibition and policies that followed were meant to save the youth, it disproportionately affected Black and Brown Americans leading many to prison for petty crimes for sale or possession of drugs. Monogram announced a nationwide campaign that they’re launching to highlight the remnant effects of the War On Drugs and the lack of progress that’s actually been made.
The new campaign includes murals, billboards, mobile ads and wild-postings across cities like Washington, D.C., Miami, New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco displaying fact-based headlines over images of eight individuals who’ve been charged for Cannabis-related offenses.
“Cannabis laws are out of date and disproportionately cruel and punishing when compared to the rest of the legal code. We still don’t have proper regulation for texting and driving in Missouri, but staying home and smoking weed will get you locked up,” Jay said in a statement.
“I created this campaign to amplify the voices of those who have been penalized for the very same thing that venture capitalists are now prospering from with the emerging legal cannabis market,” he continued.
“Far too often we forget that these are real people whose everyday lives and futures have been affected by this outdated legislature – people like Bryan Rone, who can no longer pursue a career in sales because of a cannabis-related conviction in 2003.”
Jay-Z is among several rappers how have vested interests in the commercialization of cannabis trade across the United States of America. Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chains as well as Jim Jones.