How Africa News
Pastor Jamal Bryant has devised a strategy to improve church attendance and membership among Black men… selling marijuana
The pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church spoke with Rashan Ali on the Cool Soror podcast about his desire to create a cannabis business to assist increase membership and entrepreneurship in the Black community.
“I’M LOOKING FOR PEOPLE THAT SMELL LIKE WEED,” BRYANT SAID FLAT OUT.
Ali started to laugh, but Bryant explained his new business plans.
“No, no, really. New Birth is the largest land-owning Black church in America,” he shared. “So my position to my deacons is, why are we not raising cannabis?”
Bryant touched on what he thought he could accomplish by adding the growing industry to his mega-church.
“I’LL BE ABLE TO BRING IN BLACK MALES THAT ARE ABLE TO DO IT LEGALLY,” HE EXPLAINED. “I’M TEACHING THEM FARMING. I’M HELPING THEM TO ENHANCE THE ECOSYSTEM.”
Bryant went on to note who he is hoping to target and have join his congregation.
“So if the Black kid in Bankhead says ‘They’re growing weed at the church! Where can I join?’ I don’t need no pamphlet for him,” Bryant said.
According to GlowHub, the cannabis sector raised more than $1.6 billion in January 2021. While the business is expanding, Black people’s prospects of entering the market remain limited in comparison to their white colleagues, according to The Guardian.
Bryant’s biggest impediment is Georgia’s tight regulations prohibiting the selling of cannabis save for medical purposes. According to Cannabis Business Times, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission voted in September to give two medical cannabis licenses to two businesses in the state.
However, the state has a long way to go since passing a law in 2015 that allows registered patients to possess low-THC cannabis oil but prohibits cannabis cultivation or dispensing in the state.
