Jay-Z’s Cannabis Brand Challenges Drug Policy in National Ad Campaign

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, known first as a hip-hop celebrity and now as a cannabis entrepreneur, is highlighting the injustices of U.S. drug policy and cannabis laws with a new nationwide ad campaign. Jay-Z, who launched his cannabis brand Monogram in 2020, is spreading the message of change with a series of billboards and posters that draw attention to the hypocrisy of many cannabis prohibitions.

Photos provided by Monogram/ Nike Comm

“The war on drugs worked, if systemic racism was the goal,” reads one massive message on the side of a New York City building. The campaign has a special focus on how cannabis laws have negatively affected communities of color, especially Black Americans. Jay-Z announced that he wants to “shape a brighter and inclusive future” for the cannabis industry when launching his brand together with The Parent Company deal.

Executives from The Parent Company deal expressed support for the ad campaign, saying they are committed to working with Jay Z Monogram to foster an inclusive cannabis industry that welcomes Black entrepreneurs.

“Cannabis laws are out of date and disproportionately cruel and punishing when compared to the rest of the legal code. We still don’t have proper regulation for texting and driving in Missouri, but staying home and smoking weed will get you locked up,” Jay-Z said in a statement that accompanied the ad campaign. Other posters and billboards compare cannabis laws to other types of prohibitions, noting that some states more harshly punish cannabis possession or distribution than they do sex with farm animals or marriage between cousins.

Photos provided by Monogram/ Nike Comm

Shocking headlines, such as “There’s a state in America where cannibalism is technically legal and cannabis isn’t,” put a focus on the inequities that continue to cause harm in communities nationwide.

The Jay Z ad campaign also highlights individual stories of eight people who have suffered due to cannabis prosecutions and are today being locked out of the legal industry. One man, Bryan Rone, spent 15 years behind bars for transporting several pounds of cannabis between Texas and Virginia 20 years ago. Today, his past conviction prevents him from entering the legal cannabis business even where recreational marijuana is permitted by state law.

All eight individuals pictured in the campaign offer testimonials on the Jay Z Monogram website and the brand’s social media channels, telling their stories with unjust prosecution for cannabis offenses.

Photos provided by Monogram/ Nike Comm

“I created this campaign to amplify the voices of those who have been penalized for the very same thing that venture capitalists are now prospering from with the emerging legal cannabis market,” Jay-Z said, calling American cannabis laws “out of date and disproportionately cruel.”

Black people are over three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis offenses than white people, although cannabis consumption is roughly equal between all groups. This means that white entrepreneurs – and even politicians with a long history of opposing decriminalization – are able to profit from the newly legalized cannabis industry while many Black people are barred by past convictions or even remain behind bars today for sale or possession of cannabis.

Photos provided by Monogram/ Nike Comm

The Jay Z ad campaign comes as many are concerned that President Joe Biden will continue the prohibitionist legacies of the past by choosing a new “drug czar” for the “war on drugs,” despite widespread and growing support for national cannabis decriminalization or legalization.

Jay Z Monogram’s advertising campaign is up and running in New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the center of national policy, Washington, D.C. Jay-Z announced plans to expand the campaign by the end of March.