Growing up in the midwest in the 90s, we had bad weed. It was all seed and dried oregano looking flakes that we stole from my friend’s parents – what could they say?! We smoked it, ate a bunch of ice cream and had a sore throat. The first time I saw the cannabis in California (my best friend was a Botany major at Humbolt State) I was blown away (pun intended.) I lost touch with the plant (aside from an obligatory brownie in Amsterdam) after my 20s, when I was raising small children.
One of the founding principals of Floramye was to distance ourselves from the plant. I couldn’t relate to brands where founders displayed pictures of themselves smoking. Things have changed since then. In fact, I cannot believe that hemp was stigmatized and criminalized for so many years for discriminatory reasons. The resulting incarcerations are nothing short of heartbreaking and infuriating.
George Washington was a hemp farmer. There is so much to love about it. It’s sustainable and can clean and regenerate soil through bioaccumulation (which is why we only use organic product.) The cannabis community is also fantastic. Women are included and many of us hold key positions, which is not the norm in most industries. We use hemp CBD for our products, which is extracted from the cannabis sativa plant, but contains little THC (the compound that gets people high.)
A plant that has been used medicinally and in countless other ways throughout history should be celebrated. So, I do, without shame. #lastprisonerproject