Despite the threats of Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump, cannabis is a thriving business. With 28 states approving medical marijuana and eight states with recreational laws, it’s little surprise why some celebrities are getting in the marijuana business—after all, they happen to be cannabis enthusiasts themselves.
Now some names are hardly a surprise—your Snoop Doggs, your Willie Nelsons, your Tommy Chongs. But some celebs keeps a lower profile when it comes to investing in weed. Here are the six celebrities you might be surprised to learn are creating their own cannabis-related products.
Cliff Robinson
The 18-year NBA veteran and Survivor contestant unveiled plans last year for a company he’s calling “Uncle Spiffy.” The company will be the “first-to-market Sports Cannabis brand in the world… marijuana designed for athletes.” As Robinson revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated, “Right now I’m excited about creating a positive atmosphere around something that’s been a negative for a long time.”
Melissa Etheridge
Now, singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge hasn’t been exactly quiet about using cannabis. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she began consuming marijuana to deal with adverse effects of chemotherapy. She wrote in a CNN opinion piece, the “entire experience changed my life. It opened my mind to a new way of thinking about my body, my health and the future.” Etheridge has since developed her own cannabis-infused wine called No Label available to California residents with a valid ID.
Margaret Cho
The comedian is a big fan of cannabis. As Margaret Cho told TruTV, “It stimulates everything—your creativity, your hunger.” Cho has created her own strain that stems from the very popular OG Kush. It’s called “Margaret Cho-G” and available in California’s Bay Area. As Leafly describes it, “Sweet lemon, woody pine, and sour diesel flavors lead you into Margaret Cho-G’s powerfully tranquilizing effects that any OG Kush enthusiast will appreciate.”
Sir Richard Branson
Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has invested in numerous startups, including funding $15 million to the ridesharing app Sidecar. Originally tailored as the smaller, less-funded competition to Uber and Lyft, Sidecar now moved into the medical marijuana delivery business by partnering with another Bay Area startup, Meadow. Geekwire describes the process as something legitimate: “Sidecar drivers who deliver the marijuana are all medical patients. They also carry the medicine in a safe lock box during transit, and can use the Sidecar app to verify an ID.”
Whoopi Goldberg
Part of what makes studying cannabis as a business is watching the various approaches different people employ. Instead of focusing on any recreational usage, Whoopi Goldberg founded a cannabis line for women called Whoopi & Maya. Her line includes balms, tinctures, sipping chocolates, and a bath soak aimed at reducing the pains and cramps from periods. As Goldberg told USA TODAY, “I want to go nice and slow with this. I don’t want this to be a joke to people. It’s not a joke to women.”
Roseanne Barr
Last year, the actress was part of group that was one of 20 who won a city lottery to open a dispensary in Santa Ana, California last year. Roseanne Barr will be an investor and have a licensing agreement with the dispensary, which they’re calling Roseanne’s Joint. In an interview with the Denver Post, Barr said “the legalization of marijuana I think solves about 75 percent of all our problems in this country” and “it’s the hope of the future.”
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