Whoopi Goldberg has a new title: ganjapreneur.
The actor and cohost of the talkshow The View launched a new line of medical marijuana products designed specifically for women. The company, a joint partnership with the edibles maker Maya Elisabeth, is called Whoopi & Maya and will offer marijuana-infused products intended to reduce and relieve pain and cramps from periods.
Goldberg is the latest of a growing group of celebrities to become “ganjapreneurs”, as the drug has been decriminalized in several US states. In 2014, Bob Marley’s family teamed up with a private equity firm to launch the world’s first international marijuana brand Marley Natural and last November,Snoop Dogg launched the cannabis brand, Leafs by Snoop.
Unlike the other companies, Goldberg’s line is focused on combating period pain, which ranges from slight discomfort in some women to total agony in others.
I want to go nice and slow with this. I don’t want this to be a joke to people. It’s not a joke to women
Goldberg has personal experience with medical marijuana, and says using the drug in a vaporizer has greatly soothed the symptoms of her glaucoma-induced headaches. She said she’s not interested in creating a recreational cannabis company to sell joints to people who just want to get high
Whoopi & Maya received financial backing from three friends and family members and Goldberg will serve as chairwoman, she said. The company will sell four cannabis infused products under its brand: a balm, a tincture, sipping chocolate and a bath soak.
The products, whose prices have not yet been established, will only be available in California to people with medical marijuana cards. As marijuana is illegal at the federal level, the Whoopi & Maya products won’t be available in other states.
The marijuana industry is one of the country’s fastest growing industries, increasing annually by 31%, with a national market worth $5.7 billion, say the two research firms.
By launching in California, Goldberg and partner Maya Elisabeth are entering one of the world’s largest marijuana marketplaces, with California producing $2.7 billion in sales last year, according to the cannabis-focused data firms New Frontier and ArcView Market Research.
