Removing the Stigma Starts with its Name

Right now in the United States, there are four states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use and twenty-five states that have passed medical marijuana legislation. Washington D.C also falls into the mix, which has adopted a legalized atmosphere, yet prohibits the commercialization of marijuana through the ban of sales and distribution. According to Leafly, an industry leading marijuana strain review and informational website, there are currently 2079 recognized strains of marijuana. With different strains, come different names. The availability for branding in this industry is almost unlike any other. The names currently associated with marijuana strains are essentially irrelevant to anything about the plant or its medicinal/recreational capabilities.

Do you think the average American would feel comfortable inhaling or digesting something with the name Alaskan Thunder Fuck, Harlequin, or Mob Boss? It is here, that I sense the biggest flaw with the efforts by many to normalize the marijuana culture and shed the stigma associated, thus appealing to more people nationwide. What adds to this dilemma is the fact that marijuana is not yet legalized on a national scale and although there are more medical marijuana states than recreational, the culture and industry is dominated by the “underground recreational” community. To a lot of people, this is not an issue, however, this “stoner branding” may be acting as the catalyst to many anti-marijuana campaigns. 

As an outsider looking in, it can be easy to maintain that negative stigma with marijuana by looking at its depiction through mass media. While these depictions though media are starting to change to accommodate a more universal appeal to marijuana, specifically with the TV channel VICELAND, the overall branding does not reflect an industry that is rapidly expanding. The real disservice here is to the strains themselves. Alaskan Thunder Fuck is a highly effective sativa strain that uplifts the person and alleviates symptoms found with depression and enhances appetite in those struggling to eat. With that said, it may be hard to convince someone who has never taken or smoked marijuana to make Alaskan Thunder Fuck his or her go to medication. And this makes sense; no one could be faulted with going with what his or her doctor prescribed when the alternative was named something so bizarre or even frightening like Mob Boss or AK-47. A reasonable person would probably choose not to go with the medication that shared the same name with an automatic, Russian machine gun.

So this is my call to action. Let us re-brand the industry. There is no question that this would not be easy. There is no question that this new vision would take time and convincing. People are stuck in their ways. We see that in every facet of life from religion, to politics, to educational curriculums, and now here, with marijuana. This is an industry that has been the underdog the entire time. With that said, this “weed campaign” has now overtaken half of the United States and is a core issue found in many political campaigns and on ballots across the nation. This would not be the first time that an entire industry made a massive shift either. If you look at the fats and oils industry, lard was at one point the go to product for deep-frying foods. Through social campaigns and health awareness, the industry shifted towards vegetable based oils before it pivoted again towards lower saturated fat options. This is not to relate marijuana with fats and oils, but only to say that these industry shifts are not impossible.

The answer may be in the most obvious place: the benefits of marijuana. If growers and the emerging marijuana companies start to brand their strains through associations with their benefits, the viability of this plant will start to shed through. I don’t admit to knowing better names to use, but I do know that a name associated with its ability to curb insomnia or reduce the number of seizures per day will resonate with the user more than a name like “Green Crack”.