The former professional wrestler and Navy Seal says he wants to become the first prominent American politician to have a marijuana brand featuring his likeness and image.
On Tuesday, Minnesota officially became the 23rd state to legalize the cultivation, possession, consumption, and selling of recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older in the United States. One of the most vocal and significant supporters of the new law is former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura.
Ventura served as the 38th chief executive of the “North Star” state from 1999 to 2003. Before his time as governor, Ventura gained worldwide fortune and fame as one of the founding wrestling superstars in the multi-billion dollar global phenomenon now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or the WWE. He also made iconic and memorable appearances in blockbuster action films from the 1980s and 1990s, including “Predator,” “The Running Man,” and “Demolition Man.”
However, in recent years, he has become an outspoken and passionate advocate for marijuana reform legislation. Now, as first reported by Marijuana Moment, Ventura wants to launch a cannabis brand in his home state and become the first well-known American politician to have his iconic likeness associated with that brand.
During a panel hosted by Canna Connect over the weekend, he discussed his emotionally moving personal experience with marijuana and his ambitious plans with the plant. Boisterously and proudly proclaiming that Minnesota is in a perfect position to grow the “best cannabis in the world,” he said, “I want involvement in this. I want involvement in the state of Minnesota. One personal thing for me on this is this: I want to be the first major politician in America who puts his likeness, face and everything behind cannabis. This is an ego thing for me. I want to have my name considered with cannabis.”
"I want involvement in this. I want involvement in the state of Minnesota. One personal thing for me on this is this: I want to be the first major politician in America who puts his likeness, face and everything behind cannabis. This is an ego thing for me. I want to have my name considered with cannabis.”
- Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura
Outside of his ego-gratifying motivations, Ventura also expressed how important it is to see Minnesotans succeed in developing and growing this new and potentially lucrative recreational marijuana industry instead of having the market overrun and dominated by large out-of-state corporations.
He went on to say, “I would prefer to do Minnesota—put my name with Minnesota companies and make cannabis a prosperous business in Minnesota by Minnesotans, keeping the money in Minnesota. We’ve always been a great farm state. There is no doubt Minnesota can produce corn, we can produce wheat—we can also produce the best cannabis in the world too. There’s no doubt we can do that also.”
"I would prefer to do Minnesota—put my name with Minnesota companies and make cannabis a prosperous business in Minnesota by Minnesotans, keeping the money in Minnesota. We’ve always been a great farm state. There is no doubt Minnesota can produce corn, we can produce wheat—we can also produce the best cannabis in the world too. There’s no doubt we can do that also.”
- Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura
However, Ventura’s passion for the cannabis sativa plant goes far beyond commercial interest. As a registered medical marijuana patient, he says he typically vapes marijuana to help treat non-specific neuropathy in the feet, which causes numbness and an uncomfortable tingling sensation. In addition, he also uses medicinal cannabis to help cope with post-traumatic stress and sleep issues.
But the event that truly galvanized his desire to become a relentless cannabis reform advocate was when his wife developed a severe seizure disorder decades ago. While retelling the story during the panel discussion, he described how her doctors prescribed traditional pharmaceuticals to treat the condition.
However, they provided little to no results. So, in a desperate attempt to try and find something to relieve her pain and suffering, he made the gut-wrenching decision to break the law, taking his wife to Colorado and securing cannabis oil from a friend.
According to Ventura, once the former first lady of Minnesota began taking cannabis to treat her condition, she never had another seizure. He also quickly pointed out that their health insurance provider was more than willing to “pay for the pharma things that don’t do shit, but they won’t pay for cannabis.”
While the new law legalizing adult-use cannabis does go into effect this week, making it legal for adults 21 and older to possess and consume marijuana products, the first recreational cannabis retail dispensaries will most likely not open for business until next year. However, as of Tuesday, the Red Lake Nation Native American Tribe will begin selling adult-use marijuana from its reservation locations. Likewise, Minnesotans can now cultivate up to eight plants at home, four of which can be mature.
Once the regulatory framework is in place and retail outlets begin to open and sell recreational cannabis, experts estimate the overall market could eventually exceed $1.5 billion per year in sales by 2029 and serve more than 700,000 customers annually. With high-profile and popular celebrity backers like Ventura already vociferously and proudly aligning their names and likenesses to the future Minnesota marijuana industry, the sky will be high and limitless for the latest addition to the American cannabis movement.