Have you been bullied by a canna-bro? Here’s what you should do next!

The canna bro culture is an unfortunate development of the last 5 to 10 years in the cannabis space. What is the canna bro culture? how did it start What can you do if a Canna-Bro tries to intimidate or bully you? Let’s talk about what bro culture is and how it found its way into the cannabis industry.

What is bro culture?

Bro culture is exactly what it sounds like, defined as “a subculture of young men who spend time partying with like-minded people.[1] Although the original image of the bro lifestyle was associated with athletic wear and fraternities, it lacks a unified definition as defined by Wikipedia. Another definition of bro culture at work is “Bro culture at work where male employees are seen as the standard and female employees as an aberrationleading to misogynist and discriminatory behavior towards those who are not recognized as equal.”

Bro culture in the cannabis space was covered by Fresh Toast’s David Hodes in his article The Rise and Impeding Doom of Canna-Bro Culture, a great read and source of background information. Bro culture is what the “good old boys” network denotes in other industries that have a much longer history than the corporate cannabis industry. The culture is generally reserved exclusively for white men in management and leadership positions and does not include women, minorities, and members of the LGBT community.

Cannabis Bro Culture

When did canna bro culture start, or how did it even start? What starts the whole culture is a whole lot of money given to a select group of men, generally white men. The money is then protected and entrusted only to a chosen few, the “brothers,” who can be trusted and who think just like the originators of the money. With money and the fame that comes with it comes the ego and hubris of seeming success. Success in terms of funding or an investor, not actual business success. The beginnings of the cannabis brow culture can be traced back to the usual and obvious suspects. Adam Bierman, the brash young MedMen pioneer who carelessly disregarded others in the cannabis industry and seemed more intent on getting on the cover of Rolling Stone than actually building a profitable business. Dan Bilzerian, a social media legend who has invested millions into creating a cannabis lifestyle story that features dozens of bikini-clad women, machine guns, jet skis, yachts, and just about every other cliche about the lifestyle of the rich and celebrity that you can imagine. Was it controversial pot investor Andy DeFrancesco, with his shirtless photos, brash speeches, vulgar texts and intimidation tactics towards certain cannabis-based reporters?

One thing is for sure, when serious money was at stake with the future thought of legalizing cannabis, the canna-bro culture emerged as a way for quick talkers and less than unscrupulous people to try and break into the cannabis industry .

How do you recognize a Canna-Bro?

The canna-bro is not dissimilar to a regular bro in bro culture. They are generally outspoken, aggressive, full of hubris and arrogance, crave fame and attention, and dislike being contradicted or presented with facts that do not support the “story” they are creating. Canna-Bros should not be confused with Cannabis Chads, which is another group of alpha males in the cannabis industry who wear fancy suits and want to turn cannabis into 100% businesses. Cannabis chads are generally interested in making a lot of profit and driving fancy cars that don’t score as high on the annoyance and intimidation scale as canna-bros. Common canna-bro phrases that may give you an indication that you are dealing with a canna-bro are:

Do you know who I am?

Google me B#$%#$!

I make a lot of money, and you?

I control the “X” market for cannabis

Yes, look at my Ferrari (Lambo), what do you drive?

My cannabis product is premium, premium stuff, so it’s triple the regular price

You have no idea what you’re talking about

Spreadsheets and dates are for nerds, I know what I’m doing

Canna-bro talk and intimidation isn’t limited to individuals, corporations embrace the same level of hubris when allowed too. The editor of a historically well-known cannabis magazine has threatened numerous journalists with lawsuits if they publish unflattering articles about their company. 100% factually accurate articles, but since most journalists only make a meager amount of cannabis related content, they use their size to scare journalists into not publishing credible content later due to possible legal fees.

How to Stop Canna-Bro Bullying or Intimidation?

There are a few ways to combat the bullying that comes with canna-bros, and they’re similar strategies to those used by bullies in real life. If a bully messes with your child at school, call the teacher or perhaps the bully’s parents. The same goes for Canna Bros. The good thing is that the Canna Bros are like Icarus, they think they are untouchable and they don’t understand the leverage due to the blindness their egos created. Most canna bros have a source of money, whether it’s a hedge fund, a public entity, or a famous investor. As in real life bullying, you can look up who their supporters are and contact them saying you feel intimidated or sexually harassed by XYZ and as a financial supporter, are you aware of their actions? Show the data or screenshots to the funding sources (e.g. parents) and ask them to comment, saying you are working on a story about the review and how funds and investors are being lax or not paying enough attention to it, who you are investing with and how you might invest in that person.

Once the source of the funds or the piggy bank gets wind of a possible cyber harassment or sexual harassment lawsuit, you can watch the canna bro talk quickly disappear. Investors, large and small, want to protect their investment and certainly do not want a bad public trail on a company in which they invest money and are currently risking money. A phone call from the people who write the canna-bros’ checks is usually enough to silence them. Losing investors, a boss or something means they are vulnerable and the victim can apply pressure.

The second way to combat cannabro bullying is to file a public complaint. It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, but the good news is that most of the .gov sites that host the public records of the complaint outperform any high-domain site the Canna-Bros are working on or references from around the web to have. Their complaint will soon be #1 on Google for their name or company, or at least on the front page, and they will spend endless hours discussing it with investors, regulators, and customers in the future. They will forever wish they had never messed with you or tried to intimidate you. Think of the power of .gov and local government websites when it comes to ranking in Google. A harassment form filed on the right server can last a lifetime online.

Third, use facts about canna-bros. Canna-Bros don’t put much stock in facts, so show them consumer surveys, data, sales records that don’t support their ideology or brand history. They get angry and upset if you disagree with them. (Exhibit A) This is because most canna bro stories are not based on solid research and facts, but rather on the fantasy of being “the man”, a celebrity, a lust for fame. If you dispute their “story” with facts and they cannot respond with their own dates or facts, they will attack you personally. You’re old, you’re gay, you’re stupid, they make so much more money than you that you have to be wrong, the usual personal attacks you would get when facts and research back up your argument and they have nothing else to do with it do but to try to defame or discredit you so that the facts you are using are cast in a bad light. If they attack it means they know their story is weak and they are looking for another way to refute your facts, keep calm and proceed with facts.

Fourth, support more women in the cannabis space, more LGBT community members at the top of cannabis companies, insist on the brands you buy that they have minority representation in management. Businesses will listen to consumers when it comes to money and sales, the rest is just online jabber-jabber. Show companies you care about your wallet and they will listen.

In the end, the hubris-based canna-bro story falls apart, just like Icarus falling from the sky. Adam Bierman disgraced MedMen, Dan Bilzerian shut down his cannabis brand, and Andy DeFrancesco was indicted in New York federal court for securities fraud.

The cannabis industry is so young that it’s not too late to put an end to the canna-bro culture before it’s permanently embedded in their corporate roots.

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