Trulieve Reveals True Colors of DEI – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

Florida-based medicinal cannabis company Trulieve has revealed the true colors of DEI, or “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”

DEI is a conceptual framework that claims to promote fair treatment by addressing individuals as members of a group. If that group has historically been oppressed or underrepresented, individuals belonging to the group are prioritized in terms of employment or access to resources.

The goal, its proponents claim, is to create a level playing field so that we are all equal and our institutions are diverse and inclusive.

Critics say DEI advocates are racist because they treat individuals based on their skin color (or as a member of an ethnic group) rather than their character.

And there may be something to it. Trulieve Cannabis wears its DEI badge with honor. But the company just reached a settlement with a former black employee, according to court documents.

She claims she was paid less than underqualified white people in identical roles. Despite DEI’s promotion, the company reportedly paid black employees 50 cents less an hour than white employees.

What is DEI?

To its proponents, DEI is exactly what it sounds like. It promotes diversity, equity and inclusion. But objective definitions are hard to find. Especially in the socio-political area.

For its critics, DEI is anti-liberal racism. As a theory, it is fundamentally polylogical. That is, when different groups reason and experience reality in fundamentally different ways.

In this sense, DEI proponents rub elbows with Nazis and Communists. The former believed that the “lived experiences” of white Germans were most important. And the latter believed that capitalism was mere bourgeois arithmetic which they could successfully imitate or ignore.

DEI bends reality to fit an ideological mold. For example, America’s black population is 13.6%. The Number of Black American Cannabis Executives? Also around 13%.

However, since this has dropped from 28%, DEI advocates screaming racism. In reality, it is the leveling off of a cannabis boom. The entire industry is suffering, not just self-proclaimed black executives.

The economic boom is over. So what about DEI at Trulieve?

Trulieve reveals true colors of DEI

Trulieve is the largest cannabis company in Florida and one of the largest in the United States. They’ve poured more than $30 million into legalizing recreational activities in Florida’s 2024 election.

They have also received awards for their “diversity” efforts. A minority honored Trulieve as the 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Corporate Champion of the Year.

So what’s going on here?

Are the white executives at Trulieve DEI overcompensating for being unknowingly racist?

Or maybe they are consciously racist and see DEI as a means of promoting racist ideas under the guise of diversity and inclusion. Just like the scariest men self-identify as feminists and go to women’s marches.

Or maybe Trulieve is real. Maybe they promote DEI because they genuinely believe it’s the best way to support minorities and other marginalized groups.

After all, the black woman who filed the lawsuit against Trulieve was the third highest-paid employee in her department.

She was upset about a pay rise disparity that Trulieve said was “due to an administrative error and nothing more.”

What is more likely? An administrative error at one of America’s largest cannabis companies? Or systemic racism in a company that regularly wins prizes for the different skin colors of its employees?

Trulieve & DEI? What about toxic femininity?

Trulieve wasn’t the first cannabis company to be sued for alleged racial discrimination. And they won’t be the last. But there is one commonality in these cases. The plaintiff is almost always a woman.

What does that mean?

As Richard Hanania, writing on Substack, put it:

Society has been pretty good at recognizing the harm done by the excesses of masculinity. We haven’t even begun to think carefully about equivalent pathologies arising from traits of the opposite sex.

Or, as Barbara Kay wrote for the National Post:

In short, women are more awake than men, and the more they are in college, the more awake our culture becomes, and the more intellectual rigor over feelings, “lived experiences,” therapeutics, and safety thinking will lose ground.

Male nature is aggressive. There is a degree of abrasiveness. Hurt feelings play no role in the search for the truth.

Feminine nature is emotional, pleasant, and compassionate. It’s about mental well-being. It’s sensitive.

There are more nuances to this topic than I address here. Don’t take this to mean that we are slaves to our biology. A male teacher can (and should) bring a female nature to a kindergarten class. Likewise, a female leader should bring a masculine nature to the boardroom.

But to answer whether Truileve (or any other company) is racist, perhaps we should consider who is making the charge.

Obviously disappoint the police

(Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

But what about actual racial discrimination? Not the allegations against Truileve or the racial implications of DEI.

I mean actual racism in the cannabis world. Nowhere is this clearer than in law enforcement. like dr Carl Hart writes,

Here’s an example of how it works: Whole special police units are deployed in poor, usually black or brown neighborhoods, making excessive drug arrests and subjecting affected communities to dehumanizing treatment. The argument that these communities are subject to “increased police presence” because residents ask for it is either naïve or disingenuous; These are the same residents who have repeatedly asked for better schools, more jobs, and an end to police brutality, as well as a long list of other reasonable demands.

The bottom line is simple: more drug arrests mean more overtime, more “throwaway” people in prison, and bigger budgets. These practices ensure job security for a select few, including law enforcement personnel and prison authorities. The War on Drugs has been a financial boon to these individuals, as well as to certain regions that depend on the prison economy.

Adult Drug Use by Dr. Carl Hart

In that sense, “disappointing the police” was (and is) a valid goal. The problem was that many of its proponents had no theory of civil society. For many, state and society are one.

But neighborhoods can police themselves regardless of their racial makeup. The ‘social contract’ we have with centralized institutions is about as valid as the ‘divine right of kings’.

That is: require an actual contract from those claiming to provide services. Request a contract and ask about the competition.

No competition? No contract? Invalid.

The DC cabal keeps black and brown neighborhoods poor and oppressed. They do the same with poor white neighborhoods. It’s about money and power.

That’s why I’m not concerned about the racial makeup of cannabis companies. I (or anyone else) don’t care about someone’s “unconscious bias” either.

The real problems are the former cops and politicians who are now making money and writing the rules for legalization while still profiting from the drug war.

Everything else is a distraction.