Late last March, the backbone of stoner bro comedy, Seth Rogen, and screenwriter Evan Goldberg announced the launch of their new recreational cannabis company, “Houseplant.” In other news, water is wet.
The company, in partnership with Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corp. released a single sativa strain in April, and later in the year will roll out hybrid and indica strains, as well as softgels and pre-rolled joints.
“Houseplant is a passion we’ve brought to life through drive and dedication,” Rogen said in a press release. “Every decision we’ve made for the business reflects the years of education, first-hand experience and respect we have for cannabis.”
Of course, the actor leaped at the chance to star in a series of retro-style educational videos on Houseplant’s website. One teaches new users about different strains.
“This man has smoked a sativa joint,” Rogen narrates as an office worker in 1970s-era attire picks up a curly-corded telephone at his desk. A robotic grin is plastered across his face. “His day is flying by. Look at him go!”
Other videos inform the website’s visitors on topics ranging from understanding portion control, how to ingest edibles, and how to roll a joint.
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The company is also releasing limited edition “Houseplant” vinyl records. There are three – each corresponding with a specific strain of marijuana – and come with a playlist intended to match the strain’s effect. Upbeat, mellow, or somewhere in between? You decide!
“We have a sincere love for cannabis, and think it should be treated with the reverence it deserves,” reads the company’s slogan.
Who are the other celebrities hopping on the cannabis trend? We rounded up a list of actors, musicians and influencers that might surprise you.
Melissa Etheridge
This Grammy Award winning folk rock star says she began using cannabis in 2004 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Medical marijuana helped dispel the effects of chemotherapy, reducing her nausea and giving her an appetite. Since then, she decided to become an advocate and start her own business. “I wanted to be in the front of this because I feel that there’s not a representation for middle-aged women in the cannabis industry,” she told CBS Sunday Morning in 2018.
Etheridge Farms produces flower, edibles, oil cartridges and topicals for dispensaries. Etheridge also revealed that her latest album, “The Medicine Show,” released last April, was “totally fueled by cannabis.” Its title track croons, “A little remedy never do you no harm / Come on down to mama’s farm.”
Mickey Hart
The Grateful Dead drummer says he wants his new line of 1/3 gram mini-joints to allow the mind to travel. Partnered with Oakland-based cannabis company IC Collective, his launch of “Mind Your Head” features the Chemdog strain. As the legend goes, this particular strain was discovered outside of a Grateful Dead show in 1991.
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“You’re able to function well on it. You can do your work. And it’s a lot of fun!” he told High Times. “It’s really about adventure and exalting the consciousness. Like a superhighway of the senses. That’s what this whole thing is about. It’s about consciousness raising. Just like the Grateful Dead is. We raise consciousness. We move minds.”
Post Malone
The multi-platinum hip-hop artist known for “beerbongs & bentleys” also announced his entry into the weed business last month with new brand “Shaboink.” The line will feature flower, pre-rolls and vapes, manufactured in California by cannabis lifestyle brand “Hemper.”
“Weed is good for everybody,” he told TMZ in 2016 after voting to legalize marijuana with Proposition 64. “Ain’t nobody died from that s—. People die from drinking and driving every day.”
“Shaboink” will also include CBD products and accessories like paper, grinders and other miscellaeneous merch from the young rapper. The brand will launch on July 4, Malone’s 24th birthday.
Martha Stewart
Weed mom alert! The Internet exploded when they discovered this celebrity lifestyle mogul’s unexpected friendship with Snoop Dogg in 2016. The pair first got together in 2008, when she taught him how to make her mother’s mashed potatoes. A year later, he taught her how to make green “holiday brownies” (wink.)
Now, Stewart is finally staking a claim in her own cannabis venture. She will serve as an adviser to Canopy Growth (yep, the same company working with Rogen) to help them develop cannabis products for people and their pets.
Wiz Khalifa
It wasn’t really a shock that this Pittsburgh rapper chose to start his own cannabis brand, “Khalifa Kush” in late 2018. Several of his songs openly reference marijuana, and even has a “Farmville”-inspired mobile game, “Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm,” which was released on 4/20 this year.
Interestingly enough, though, Khalifa partnered with streetwear brand Supreme to develop and launch the line of cannabis products, including “Taylor Gang” grinders, rolling papers, bongs and vape accessories.
Whoopi Goldberg
When the “Sister Act” star asked a friend in the cannabis industry if there was any marijuana designed for menstrual cramps, and he said no, she decided to make it happen herself. Collaborating with Maya Elisabeth, founder of “Om Edibles,” the pair unveiled “Whoopi & Maya,” a cannabis brand consisting of Epsom salts and menstrual relief rubs to help alleviate pain in women on their periods.
“Our goal is to make you feel better, not get you high,” Goldberg told Forbes. “We want to help women who have bad cramps be able to work a full work day without excruciating pain.”
Gwyneth Paltrow
Some of this actress’ health endorsements in the past could be considered a bit, shall we say, gimmicky? From being stung by bees on purpose to vaginal steaming with mugwort, her introduction of cannabis in her health brand “Goop” is a welcome diversion.
Released last year, the company’s mission is to shed the stoner stereotype and raise awareness about cannabis as a wellness supplement. Working in conjunction with MedMen dispensaries, some of its offerings include vape pens, infused teas, edibles, as well as CBD bath bombs and transdermal patches.
Amber Rose
Last year, the model, reality TV star and sex-positive activist teamed up with Arizona-based Kandy Pens to release a line of champagne and white gold vaporizers. These pens were the first to use a quartz bucket and coil, preventing a burning sensation from the vapor.
“I want it to feel like a celebration when they inhale,” Rose said. “I want the pen to not only represent my fans, but to be inclusive, so that anyone coming across my pen will resonate with it.”
Joe Montana
This Hall of Fame quarterback made headlines in January when he invested in Caliva, a San Jose-based cannabis manufacturer. The retired athlete says he believes in investing in an industry that “can provide relief to many people and can make a serious impact on opioid use or addiction.” Similarly in 2017, he invested in Herb, a company that produces and releases marijuana-related news and entertainment.
Now, the NFL may lift its ban on medical marijuana in order to study it for pain treatment.
Have comments on this article or questions about cannabis? Ask GreenState or send inquiries and tips to amanda.bartlett@sfchronicle.com