[[{“value”:” Feature
Sourced from Silly Nice
Silly Nice is a Harlem-based cannabis brand available in more than 90 dispensaries across New York.
The small Black- and veteran-owned cannabis brand’s mission is geared toward equity and support for historically marginalized communities.
In a historically underrepresented field, Silly Nice, a small Black- and veteran-owned cannabis brand, is part of an effort to uplift minority-owned businesses.
Silly Nice provides artisanally crafted and sustainable products at dispensaries in more than 90 locations across New York. These include Just Breathe in Binghamton, Sacred Bloom in neighboring Vestal and Greenery Spot in Johnson City. LeVar Thomas, a co-founder of Silly Nice, said he faced some challenges breaking into the field as a minority entrepreneur.
“Historically, Black communities have faced disproportionate criminalization for cannabis, and now that the industry is legal, many of those same communities are being shut out of economic opportunities,” Thomas wrote to Pipe Dream.
According to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2020, Black and white Americans used marijuana at similar rates, and Black Americans were 3.64 times as likely to be incarcerated for possession. Convictions like these can become barriers to job security and higher education, limiting communities’ opportunities for economic growth.
As a result, organizations like the Cannabis Association of New York have advocated for a more inclusive industry by establishing a goal for 50 percent of licenses to be issued to “equity applicants,” according to Freeman Klopott, a spokesperson for the Cannabis Association of New York and a vice president of Marino PR. These include communities heavily impacted by inequitable cannabis enforcement, like “distressed farmers and veterans,” and minority- and women-owned businesses.
“By advocating to help make sure that the state is adhering to those goals and building a truly equitable market, we’re making sure that we’re playing a role to help offset some of the harms caused by that disproportionate enforcement of cannabis provision,” Klopott said.
This history of stigma surrounding minority communities and cannabis played a significant role in Silly Nice’s brand identity. Thomas said the business was born to fight the status quo and build a space for small business owners.
The marijuana industry has largely been dominated by larger corporations like Curaleaf and Trulieve. As a part of its mission, Silly Nice looks to foster a more inclusive market by using its platform to spotlight businesses owned by those belonging to marginalized communities, gearing its mission toward equity and support for these communities.
His veteran background also motivated him to work through regulation difficulties within the industry, giving Thomas “a mindset of discipline, resilience, and strategic execution.”
Small brand success is critical to representing historically marginalized communities affected by the criminalization of marijuana. Klopott said small businesses like Silly Nice have helped to reshape communities.
“They’re building in themselves, and they’re helping create jobs and grow the local economy, and at the same time raising significant tax revenue that flows back into their local governments and into state programs that are specifically designed to give back, particularly to communities that were hit hard by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition,” Klopott said.
Silly Nice has been committed to giving back and bolstering its community through partnerships with other initiatives like Hospitality Pathways, a nonprofit supporting job placement and workforce training for underrepresented groups entering the cannabis industry.
They have also partnered with the Cannabis Justice and Equity Initiative, which provides education and cannabis career training for communities struggling to enter the legal cannabis market.
“For Silly Nice, success isn’t just about growing our brand — it’s about helping others grow alongside us,” Thomas wrote.
“}]] In a historically underrepresented field, Silly Nice, a small Black- and veteran-owned cannabis brand, is part of an effort to uplift minority-owned businesses. Silly Nice… Read More
