Playboy Enterprises, the owners of the adult magazine, is joining cannabis and social justice advocates on a cannabis law and advocacy campaign “to push for legalization, decriminalization and destigmatization of cannabis,” the company announced on Thursday.
Initial partners for the campaign include the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.
Rachel Webber, chief marketing officer of Playboy Enterprises, said the company feels the campaign is its duty “as stewards of an iconic champion of progress,” noting that Playboy has advocated for social reforms – including cannabis legalization – for more than 50 years.
“Since its inception, Playboy has fought for cultural progress rooted in the core values of equality, freedom of expression, and the idea that pleasure is a fundamental human right. For far too long, our nation’s policy toward cannabis has been backward and punitive, leading to decades of injustice in our legal system and to social stigma and shame.” — Webber in a statement
The three-pronged campaign will focus on public policy, people, and culture. CEO Ben Cohen published an op-ed in conjunction with the campaign’s announcement calling on Congress to pass the MORE Act.
The company is also donating $25,000 to both the Last Prisoner Project and the Eaze Momentum accelerator program to help bolster their social justice and equity initiatives. The social media platforms of some of its prominent Playmates – which boast tens of millions of followers – will be loaned to representatives of MPP, Veterans Cannabis Project, Eaze, and the Last Prisoner Project, to spread art from seven artists inspired by the federal inequities of cannabis prohibition and to raise awareness of the inequities and stigma around cannabis.
In June, the company re-launched the Playboy Foundation and established an initial $250,000 fund to support organizations fighting injustice, and immediately donated $150,000 to organizations committed to Black liberation.
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