The company that said “ice cream can change the world” now seems to believe that cannabis can play a role in that lofty goal. Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen has started a non-profit cannabis line to help right the wrongs of the drug war.

The new brand, Ben's Best Blnz, or B3, intends to "sell Great Pot and use the power of our business to Right the Wrongs of the War on Drugs," according to its website.

B3 is earmarking 80% of its profits for grants that will be given to Black cannabis entrepreneurs while the rest will be equally divided between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the Last Prisoner Project, which is working to free people incarcerated for cannabis offenses.

“The War on Drugs [so declared by President Richard Nixon] has targeted lower-income Black and Brown people thru over policing, discriminatory prosecution, and discriminatory sentencing,” the website states. “That’s why despite using pot at the same rate, Black people are 4 times more likely to be arrested than Whites.”

The brand is licensing its formulas, packaging, trademarks and marketing materials to for-profit businesses that pay a royalty. After expenses are deducted, the royalties will then be donated to the above causes.

In keeping with Ben & Jerry’s longstanding commitment to the environment, the cannabis used to produce B3 is grown in soil without nonorganic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. 

B3 products, including pre-rolls with lower levels of THC, are expected to be available in cannabis shops in Vermont in May, wrote the AP.

Ben & Jerry's introduced its plans to produce CBD-infused ice cream in 2019.  

Ben & Jerry’s: Nearly Five Decades 

Ben & Jerry's began in 1978 when school friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened their first scoop shop in a renovated Vermont gas station. 

In 1985, they created the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, a left-progressive organization that provides grants to nonprofits with a presence in Vermont and to nonprofit organizations that support left-of-center causes, including environmentalist policy. The foundation is the corporate philanthropic arm of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. 

The brand was acquired by Unilever (NYSE: UL) in 2000. In June 2022, Unilever sold its Ben & Jerry’s business interests in Israel to Blue and White Ice Cream Ltd. 

Image: Ben & Jerry's website