Pride Month & Cannabis: Awareness and Changing Perceptions
“This will be the fourth year we have had the opportunity to partner with a local organization during pride month, and we have always been thrilled with the support we have seen for the product,”, Jake Heimark, CEO and Co-founder PLUS Products
The emerging legal cannabis industry and LGBTQ+ movement have a lot of similarities, from a growing public awareness and acceptance to the creation of legal protections that have been hard fought. With the cannabis industry becoming a true CPG category, more and more cannabis brands are embracing Pride month and even custom run products helping generate awareness and at the same time donating portions of proceeds to advocacy groups.
Changing the world a state at a time
The legalization of cannabis, like the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. is something that started at the state level. While certainly very different civil rights issues there are parallels with the state-by-state approach prior to national legalization. With same-sex marriage, it went from legal in one state in 2004 (Massachusetts) to all states by 2015, reaching a tipping point of 70% of the population living within a state that has legalized same-sex marriage by 2014.
The Tipping Point for Cannabis
According to 2019 population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau over 43% of U.S. adults now live in a jurisdiction that has legalized the recreational use of marijuana at the local level. If we include medical cannabis markets, we are looking at close to 90% of the population now living in a market with some form of legal cannabis. We are at the same point with cannabis legalization where a majority of Americans now support legalizing cannabis combined with legislation being introduced at the federal level that echos much of the process that led to the ultimate legalization nationwide of same-sex marriage.
Pride Month and Brand Adoption
In the month of June, there is hardly a brand in the U.S. that hasn’t changed their social media logo to reflect Pride Month. Going beyond social media statements, many brands introduce new products to coincide with Pride Month, a trend that continues to gain traction in the legal cannabis industry as well.
Reeboks and Rainbow Sherbert
From Curaleaf to Plus Products there is a large list of brands in legal cannabis markets all over the country bringing custom products to market for Pride Month, similar to how Reebok has introduced new lines of shoes, or Apple has introduced a new line of Watch Bands.
Often with new product introductions comes a commitment to donate a portion of all proceeds to organizations helping move the conversation forward. Given the social equity component core to many cannabis brands, support for marginalized communities comes naturally to the cannabis industry and even at times overlaps. A great example of this is with the Plus Products Rainbow Sherbert campaign for 2021, where a portion of proceeds are donated to the San Francisco-based Transgender, Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) with a mission of ending the human rights abuses committed against Black and Brown TGI people inside of California prisons, jails, detention centers and beyond.
A Growing Trend
While in the past there has been push back on encouraging a sort of ‘slacktivism’, where supporting products from brands we love that run custom product lines for Pride Month may not have the impact direct involvement with these initiatives might, the continued raising of awareness and support through brand donations or percentages of proceeds are still an important part of making change.
I don’t see this trend of producing unique products to celebrate Pride Month going anywhere anytime soon. Given the cannabis industry’s efforts on supporting initiatives to promote social justice as part of cannabis legalization as well as the similarities in growing social acceptance on a state-by-state level, supporting the LGBT community throughout Pride Month seems like a natural extension.
What to Watch For
- What other brands will introduce Pride Month products each year?
- Cannabis sales in summer month sales are generally higher than the rest of the year, how much of a direct impact will Pride Month have on that upward sales trajectory?
- What will the tipping point be for legal cannabis, and will the thresholds of U.S. population living within in adult-use markets be the same?
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