Martha Stewart is bringing her brand cache to cannabis. The lifestyle empress is partnering with Canopy Growth ($CGC), the Canadian pot grower and distributor, to help develop CBD and hemp-infused products for humans and animals, the company announced in a statement.
The partnership marks another step in the mainstreaming of marijuana, which is now legal for recreational use in Canada, where Canopy is based, and in a handful of U.S. states. CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabanoid, got a boost in the U.S. when President Trump signed the Farm Bill, legalizing hemp.
Stewart said in a statement that she is "delighted to establish this partnership with Canopy Growth and share with them the knowledge I have gained after years of experience in the subject of living."
Canopy said Stewart will first work on a line of CBD-infused products for pets. The company is currently in clinical trials on cannabis compounds meant to treat anxiety in animals.
Stewart will be in good company. Canopy, through a subsidiary, already has a partnership with Snoop Dogg who co-hosts a cooking show with Stewart on VH1.
By lending her name to Canopy's brand, Stewart is helping to further legitimize a red-hot industry that still faces hurdles in widespread acceptance in the U.S.
“As soon as you hear the name Martha, you know exactly who we’re talking about,” Canopy CEO Bruce Linton said in a statement.
Marijuana remains a schedule 1 drug at the federal level, though legalization at the state level continues to spread. Public sentiment has also changed: six in 10 Americans now say pot should be legalized for recreational use, according to Pew.
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