Perpetually woke dessert giants Ben & Jerry‘s are celebrating 4/20 (the weed day) in an unusual fashion: they’re calling for US Congress to expunge all prior marijuana convictions, and urging people to pay attention to the massive disparity between numbers of white and black Americans still being convicted for drug offences.
In an article accompanying a petition on their website, Ben & Jerry’s wrote:
If you love pot AND you’re white, everything is totally awesome these days. In 2017, 81% of cannabis executives were white. Meanwhile, even in states where pot is legal, and even though Black people and white people use pot at similar rates, Black people are still arrested way more often than whites. We love 4/20 and we love legalisation, but that’s not OK.
They’ve also posted a quick, to-the-point video on Twitter, which has garnered an overwhelmingly positive response.
It’s hard to celebrate 4/20 when so many people of color are still being arrested for pot. We have to do better. Learn more: https://t.co/DPCcqND0SI pic.twitter.com/fLsngGteOF
— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) April 20, 2019
GET IN THEY ASS BENJAMIN AND JERRETH https://t.co/qexY5YCmA4
— Lauren Chanel (@MichelleHux) April 20, 2019
— I see you Traitors! ~QweenWasabi~ (@SpainVirtuoso) April 20, 2019
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Let’s talk about it.HALF A MILLION Canadians have criminal records for simple cannabis possession- a non violent act that is now NO LONGER A CRIME.
It’s. A. Plant. 🙃@JustinTrudeau, issue blanket pardons. It’s time. https://t.co/rqOrs1OFpD— Karissa Pukas (@KARISSAPUKAS) April 20, 2019
Last year I went to Ben & Jerry’s HQ in Vermont to learn about the brand. They hire local people & give back to communities in numerous ways. They are lead supports of Black Lives Matter and support LBQT+ rights and activism. BUY YOUR ICE CREAM FROM THEM (they do vegan too) https://t.co/GGoLmSxFZt
— Grace 🌱 (@GraceFVictory) April 20, 2019
how is ice cream better at this than the elected officials in my supposedly progressive state? https://t.co/quSQjMMLgR
— jesse spector (@jessespector) April 20, 2019
Tfw your fav ice cream is more woke than half the democratic candidates for president https://t.co/6EQsU5cGRW
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) April 20, 2019
The United States has recently undergone a huge cultural and legal shift in its attitudes towards marijuana use and possession, with 33 states making the drug legal and many more rushing legislation through. While weed remains illegal at a federal level, it seems like only a matter of time until it’s legalised country-wide.
This has led to conversations about what to do with the masses of people currently incarcerated for marijuana offences – many of whom, as Ben & Jerry’s have pointed out, are people of colour.
Meanwhile, B&J’s are adding a sweet kick to their Congress campaigning, offering Americans who legally buy weed on 4/20 via Caliva, a cannabis dispensary in California who they’ve partnered with, free pints of their Half-Baked flavour ice cream.
It’s not the first time the iced confection corp has got involved with social justice causes, and it probably won’t be the last. While some are bemoaning the use of topical social issues to sell ice cream, you gotta give it to Ben & Jerry’s: they know how to use their product to get our attention.
