Marshawn Lynch, the former National Football League star, announced his new cannabis venture, Dodi Blunt. This “premium, crafted cannabis” company features blunts infused with THCa diamonds. Lynch was a Super Bowl champion running back with the Seattle Seahawks, and he credits cannabis with helping him recover from the pounding his body took during his football years.
The company’s inaugural product, THCa diamonds-infused blunts featuring an organic Zkittles strain curated by Lynch himself, is expected to hit the market in dispensaries in March 2021. The blunts are rolled in a palm leaf, Lynch’s preferred method for enjoying a smoke. THCa diamonds, a form of cannabis extract, contain around 99% THC, one of the most potent forms of cannabis. However, the Marshawn Lynch cannabis blunts infuse those powerful diamonds with organic flower for a balanced experience.
This isn’t Lynch’s first venture into entrepreneurship. He’s already involved in filmmaking, marketing, apparel design and esports, and now he’s adding cannabis to his portfolio. He launched Beast Mode, his lifestyle brand, in 2014, five years before retiring from the NFL in 2019. While he partnered with Canadian company 2nd and Goal for organizational support, Lynch owns 100% of Dodi Blunt. The Canadian firm has worked in that legal market to develop premium, “white-label” cannabis products for many different brands.
Dodi
Dodi — a slang term for high-quality cannabis — is premium but also socially aware. According to the Dodi brand cannabis website, “We are devoted to getting social equity ‘right’ and creating opportunities that The War on Drugs annihilated for Black and Brown people. ESPECIALLY in Oaktown.” While legal cannabis is a burgeoning business opportunity, many Black people with prior cannabis convictions continue to be shut out of the market while white venture capitalists with no cannabis background seek a quick profit.
The cannabis industry “has the ability to raise up Black and Brown communities,” Lynch said. Marshawn Lynch cannabis aims to bring California’s favorite cannabis strains nationwide.
The Marshawn Lynch cannabis venture has partnered with the Last Prisoner Project, an organization advocating for cannabis law reform, addressing past injustices and ending the continuing negative effects of criminalization. Dodi brand cannabis pledged to work together to “drive significant, lasting change” in criminal justice reform. This builds on Lynch’s exiting charitable work with the Fam1st Family Foundation, which focuses on community-building efforts in the Bay Area. Most of his existing business deals contain a charitable component, particularly in support of underserved youth.
Marshawn Lynch cannabis Dodi is backed by a management team that has already placed its products in 24 dispensaries. The legal cannabis market also comes with heavy regulation, and Lynch’s management team works to make sure all the paperwork and compliance is in place. In addition to weed products, Marshawn Lynch cannabis Dodi will also produce apparel, accessories and other products. The company is targeting $10 million in sales for its first year in business.
Lynch is the latest celebrity to develop a cannabis brand, joining Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Whoopi Goldberg, Willie Nelson and Tommy Chong, as well as former pro athletes Ricky Williams, John Salley and Al Harrington.
