Celebrating the Non-Celebratory: Diddy’s Takeover of the Cannabis Industry

So Diddy has spent nearly $200 million in establishing a cannabis empire. He has become the only black American to accomplish such a feat.

The media mogul has branched out into the company that will license dispensaries across three states. Brother Love isn’t just opening up an around-the-way spot for people to pick their poison of some good bud. This is bigger. He’s launched a company that will oversee hundreds if not thousands of employees.

All of this is well and good because he’s black. It’s beautiful that a black man has amassed such a fortune in America to venture into a business that could have gotten you locked up in past decades.

Instead of going to prison, Diddy will be going to the bank and making green off of green gold. Yet, it’s tinged with sadness. In all the celebration, we have to remember that other drugs are not legalized, that cannabis is still licensed, and that it has to be cheered about that a black man makes such an achievement and not just a man.

This is time for history again. Given the facts from the Middle Passage up to modern times, it has been the struggle of Foundational Black Americans (FBA) to create some sense of dignity and agency amongst themselves.

To say hooray for Diddy is warranted but not because he is black. He just happens to be a savvy businessman who knows the market and can excel in nearly everything he has pursued.

His blackness ought to not be a reason for his spectacular success. It is his mind that has produced his phenomenal track record in industry. It is neither an asset or a liability that Diddy is black. It is just a fact of existence. He should be neither maligned or honored for the color of his skin or eyes or the texture of his hair. Rather, he should be uplifted for his intelligence and morality in the field of business.

Once it is possible for people to view this man as a man instead of just a black, this country and the world will approach the upward swing in all the dealings between human beings. Until we see the day that a man can purchase property to dispense all kinds of drugs despite his malin content, we will continue to mire ourselves in the ugliness of racial despair.

That doesn’t have to be, however. There is a day where all drugs can be decriminalized and on the market. Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter could sell crack all over again without the worry of licensing fees or the long arm of the law. Both Sean Combs and Shawn Carter could make billions not because they’re both black but because they have studied and accelerated their understanding of the game.

With cannabis being the hot crop for people to use recreationally, the idea still has to he said: although the drugs ought to be legal, they should not be consumed for those purposes. The heroin that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson might want to sell should be made possible to him, but Diddy, Jay, and 50 should be hard pressed to find clientele.

Such substances destroy the brain. While the high may last for decades, and people might be able to state heightened levels of creativity, moments of euphoria, and any other benefits, they adversely change the chemical structure of the brain, negatively affecting the mind.

But that doesn’t mean that Mr. Love should stop his production. He should be aware of the dangers of such consumption and remind himself of the possibilities of investing in businesses that have unequivocal prosperity for all parties.