AWARE-N-US: Diversity Focused Cannabis Brand
Colorado’s cannabis industry has been an ever-changing landscape since its recreational legalization in 2012. Legalization led to an increase in tourism, and financial gains have gone on to fund education, literacy programs, transportation, agriculture, and more.
There has also been an increase in entrepreneurship, with new businesses expanding the industry each year. Cannabis wellness retreats, cooking with cannabis, and private smoking lounges and cafes are just some of the new businesses to pop up over the years. Businesses big and small have grown by the thousands, with 2,917 licensed cannabis businesses employing 41,076 people as of June 2019.
However, advancement does not come without drawbacks. The communities that were once the most condemned for cannabis use and possession are now being left behind. The impacts of previous decades of criminalization have highly affected people of color and low-income individuals. Black Americans have been incarcerated at twice the rate, compared to white counterparts, for possession or sale of the drug.
A study done in 2020 by the city of Denver titled “Cannabis Business and Employment Opportunity” found that 74.6 percent of local, cannabis-related business owners identify as white; 12.7 percent are Hispanic, Latino or Spanish; and 5.6 percent are Black. The study also reported that 60 percent of cannabis business owners are white, while only 13 percent are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish, and 6 percent are Black. This disparity proves that Colorado’s white community is profiting off the same industry that targeted BIPOC before legalization.
One company trying to make a change in the racial disparity is Medpharm, a leading cannabis manufacturer. In February, Medpharm launched AWARE-N-US powered by BATCH (pronounced “awareness”), a diversity-focused cannabis brand. AWARE-N-US is partnering with Colorado’s leading cannabis retailers to raise funds and awareness for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the cannabis industry.
“I wanted to do something that makes an impact and involve the right people in conversations and make sure that we’re addressing social equity,” says Albert Gutierrez, the CEO of Medpharm.
For its launch, AWARE-N-US has partnered with the Black Cannabis Equity Initiative (BCEI), a community-driven initiative of concerned Black citizens and business leaders advocating for equity, diversity, and inclusion opportunities in Colorado’s cannabis industry. The organization aims to be an “equity focal point for authentic dialogue between the Black community and the Colorado cannabis industry, as well as a bridge for community engagement, collaboration, and partnerships around cannabis equity, diversity, and inclusion opportunities,” according to their website.
BCEI was co-founded by John Bailey, who has been a longtime champion of social equity, working previously as a political consultant with former Mayor Wellington Webb, Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign, and the University of Colorado Boulder student government.
“We have been working with MedPharm since 2019, and the team continues to be a strategic partner as we advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity opportunities,” Bailey said in a statement. “This is a huge step towards change in the cannabis industry and sends a strong message and call to action for all cannabis companies and other industries while providing consumers an immediate option to support the Black community.”
Each quarter, the brand will re-release the product with a new flavor and packaging and partner with a new organization that focuses to bring awareness to customers and financial support to underrepresented communities in the cannabis industry. Gutierrez says that next quarter, they plan on partnering with the LGBTQ community.
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“Our focus is promoting diversity and understanding,” Gutierrez says. “We’re getting those who were affected by the war on drugs into the conversation.”
While this won’t solve all of the racial disparities that exist in the cannabis industry, it’s a step in the right direction. Gutierrez says he liked to see AWARE-N-US become a national brand and partner with organizations in other states where cannabis has been legalized.
“I’d love to partner with companies that are wanting to attack this issue and do something about it,” he states. “[I want to] help raise funds for those who start business and help them find their way in the cannabis industry.”
The first AWARE-N-US product is a 500mg banana and vanilla (“banilla”) flavored vape cartridge and can be found in 30 locations across the state of Colorado. Two dollars of every unit sold in the first quarter will be directly donated to BCEI.
