When Pentagram partner Eddie Opara got an email from Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen during the pandemic he was intrigued. “At first, I didn’t know who he was. He said that he was a friend of Stefan Sagmeister’s, and that Stefan had referred me to him,” Opara says. 

“His email said that he was leading a new cannabis startup, which was structured as a not-for-profit company whose purpose is to work with and invest in people and communities that the war on drugs has impacted.” Having worked on other cannabinoid-based projects, Opara wanted to know more. “When I realised who Ben was, and knowing his activist work, and his work to help Black-owned dispensaries to only be the ones to sell the products, that sealed the deal,” he says.

The initial goal was to produce a moderate THC pre-roll joint for people like Cohen who don’t smoke much and find what’s often available now too strong. “When I was in college the pot that we were smoking was like 4-8% THC, and now, the average THC they’re selling in the dispensaries is 22% up to 30%,” Cohen tells CR.