‘Kiss My Grass’ Speaks Truth

Legal weed looks good on paper. Dispensaries that feel like Apple stores.
Influencer product drops. Celebrities launching “wellness” brands from
Manhattan to Malibu. But peel back the shiny packaging and the question
hits hard: Who’s really cashing in on cannabis, and who’s still paying the
price?

That’s the heartbeat of *Kiss My Grass*, a short documentary that refuses
to let the industry off the hook. Written by Roy Wood, Jr., directed by
Mary Pryor, Mara Whitehead, co-directed by Tirsa Hackshaw and narrated by
actor and activist Rosario Dawson, the film doesn’t waste time glamorizing
the Green Rush. Instead, it zooms in on the people of color, particularly
Black women, who’ve had to fight their way into a market that was never
built for them.

In less than 20 minutes,* Kiss My Grass* manages to hit every nerve with
candid interviews that strip the false promises of legalization down to its
bones. It’s in these raw, personal stories from trailblazers including Kim
James, Matha Figaro, Jessica Jackson and Coss Martewhere the documentary
hits hardest. Watching them, you’re forced to confront a painful reality:
Legalization was sold as a new beginning, but the same old systems keep
showing up with new branding.
[image: Kiss My Grass film poster]

After watching the film, I had a lot of questions about what it actually
takes to make progress in such a complicated system and had the opportunity
to ask some of the featured individuals about what’s changed, what hasn’t
and what needs to happen.

“True equity requires structural repair,” says Jackson, director of social
equity for Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management. “That means
reinvestment into harmed communities; expungement and record repair; rules
that prevent hidden ownership and monopolization; workforce protections;
and readiness tools like technical assistance—all interventions Minnesota
provided from the start in Chapter 342 legislation.”

While the cannabis industry is expected to hit $45 billion in 2025, equity
programs meant to level the field often feel more like public relations
stunts than progress in some states. The numbers from around the country
tell the story: Only 0.35 percent of venture capital reaches Black women
founders. Black people are still 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for
possession.

“Access to capital, affordable real estate, and navigating complex
regulations are major barriers,” says James, who leads Detroit’s Office of
Cannabis Management. “Many equity programs don’t address the systemic
economic disadvantages experienced by people who come from communities
disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.”
[image: Wanda James at her Simply Pure Dispensary]*Kiss My Grass *appeared
at the prestigious Tribeca Fim Festival this past summer in advance of its
wider digital release. Wanda James, Simply Pure’s CEO and Regent at the
University of Colorado, appears in the movie.

It’s just even more of a reminder that legal doesn’t mean fair for the
communities that got felonies instead of spots on the Forbes list for
selling cannabis.

As Coss Marte, founder of fitness empire CONBODY, puts it, “If you’re
making millions off cannabis, you have a moral obligation to invest in the
communities that paid the price for prohibition,” he says. “That means
jobs, ownership and capital—not charity optics. Repair starts when money,
mentorship and opportunity flow directly to the people most impacted.”

Still, this isn’t a film that wallows in defeat. It’s about persistence.
You feel the exhaustion, but also the refusal to give up. You see the
discouragement, but also a spark of hope for the future. If there’s one
message this film makes clear it’s that equity won’t grow on its own, but
it *can* take root if we tend to it.

For Figaro, the founder behind ButACake and CannPowerment, the future of
cannabis isn’t just about who gets in the door now, but what the next
generation of women of color will inherit. When asked what needs to change
to make that possible, she didn’t hold back. “My hope is that future
generations inherit thriving cannabis businesses and the tools to bring
underrepresented voices to market,” she says. “But to get there, we must
dismantle the small-minded and misinformed policymakers writing rules
they’ll never be forced to follow.”

After making its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this past summer, *Kiss
My Grass* is set for a wider digital release at a later date. Whether you
work in cannabis or just care about justice, it’s essential viewing about
what happens when an industry sells progress but delivers privilege. It
leaves you moved. It leaves you mad. And, just maybe, that’s the point.

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