In a move to give back to the causes it believes in, Platinum, a California-based cannabis manufacturer, has launched a special edition product line aiming to raise awareness and donate to six social issues and causes.
A portion of proceeds from each Platinum REACT vape cartridge is donated to a variety of charities focusing on suicide prevention, veteran support, world hunger, animal rescue, breast cancer awareness and pediatric medical care.
Platinum has partnered with American for Suicide Prevention, Headstrong Project and Trevor Project to support suicide prevention; Project Sanctuary and Battle Brothers Foundation to support veterans; Feeding San Diego and Feeding West Michigan to end hunger; Cookies For Kids’ Cancer to support children’s hospitals; Last Days Dog Rescue, Wags and Walks, and Wild Animal Sanctuary to support animal rescue; and Shades of Pink Foundation California and the Shades of Pink Foundation to support breast cancer awareness.
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Because cannabis remains federally illegal, Platinum must vet potential charities to ensure they are willing to work with the industry before establishing a partnership, according to Co-Founder and CEO Cody Sadler.
“Because of our industry … not being federally legal, we have to go through and see which charities are willing to work with us directly and be open to sharing that they are working with a cannabis company, so it took a little bit of vetting,” Sadler told Cannabis Dispensary. “We have actually quite a bit of turnout, more than we expected.”
For brain tumor awareness month in May, Platinum worked with a few charities that accepted the company’s donations but would not promote the Platinum in any way.
“They wanted nothing to do with us as an actual company, so we fought a little bit back and forth because we didn’t want to work with someone like that,” Sadler said. “They’re just not able to show money coming from a company that isn’t federally legal, supposedly, or maybe they were just against cannabis. Nothing actually came out on reasons exactly why, but the ones that we’ve chosen now are all very open to it.”
Each REACT product highlights one of the six causes with a specially designed box and unique cannabis variety.
“A lot of it was just our in-house designers getting the point across, as well as having a little bit of fun with it,” Sadler said. “For our end hunger [campaign], we did our Jelly Donut strain, which is a real strain within cannabis, and [we] kind of just wanted to shine some light on the cause, as well.”
The REACT product line is available in participating dispensaries across California and Michigan, and the causes and charities will change each quarter, Sadler said.
“We’ve built a big foundation on our brand, and everyone has always said this [industry] was built on patients,” he said. “This whole industry has always been built on patients, and that’s why this whole thing has been started, but nobody’s really done anything to give back except sell them product and profit off of that. So, having this foundation that we’ve built, we’ve always wanted to give back.”
And Platinum’s customers have so far appreciated the company’s charitable spirit, Sadler added. “We take these six REACT sides because someone can relate to one of them in some way."
