Squarespace Suspends New York Cannabis Brand’s Online Merch Payments

The New York cannabis brand Silly Nice said Squarespace has suspended all
payments for its online merchandise store, despite none of the products
containing any cannabis, stupidDOPE reports.

Silly Nice is a state-licensed operator specializing in small-batch, craft
cannabis products. The veteran- and Black-owned company’s products
frequently sell out, according to its website, and the business owners had
relied on the online apparel store as an important source of additional
revenue.

Squarespace, a website-building and hosting service utilized by
entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world, bases its online
payment processor on Stripe, which prohibits cannabis and hemp product
sales. But Stripe’s support page on prohibited products suggests that, so
long as no prohibited items are on offer, hemp and cannabis brands should
be approved to otherwise use the service.

Squarespace did not communicate before or after shutting down the company’s
online sales, which were exclusively apparel or accessories and contained
zero actual cannabis.

“It’s painful to watch platforms that claim to support small business
owners discriminate against us because of what industry we’re in. We
followed every rule, every law, every guideline. Our website doesn’t sell
cannabis — it sells merch. But because we’re associated with cannabis,
we’re being punished. We’ve been victimized by these tech platforms, and it
needs to stop.” — LeVar Thomas, Co-Founder of Silly Nice, via stupidDOPE

The incident underscores an ongoing concern for cannabis operators
everywhere — that despite state-level reforms now in effect throughout most
of the country, industry participants continue to face obstacles unique to
the cannabis space, whether due to federal prohibition directly, or the
unfortunate stigma associated with it.

Squarespace did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.