ABOUT
We started Police & Thieves in response to the political and social blanching of marijuana by an industry that has stripped the plant of its power. This commodification has made CBD bath balms ubiquitous and has sterilized its subversive potency with the scientific term, “Cannabis.”
Part of our reconquista is to embrace the history of marijuana in its totality, including its counterculture, by acknowledging the past and celebrating the creativity that has arisen out of oppression. Police & Thieves is an apotropaic symbol of that possibility.
Police & Thieves holds in respect sophistication and aesthetics. Marijuana has been used for centuries as a medium to motivate the mind, to create, collaborate, and build community. It has been used to subvert power. It has been used to commune with power.
Our goal is not to reduce flower to its highest THC content but to give prominence to previously neglected qualities of marijuana (such as the entourage effect) in order to cultivate a customizable experience.
We are a woman and minority-owned company based in Denver, CO.
THE NAME
“Police and Thieves” is a song by Junior Murvin about violence in 1970s Jamaica. The lyrics describe police and thieves – both armed – as the proverbial different sides of the same coin. As a young gang member, company co-founder David Tomas Martinez, used to listen to this song in his friends’ cars – a rare moment of joy in a viperous environment. Decades later, when Martinez and Yates were thinking of starting a marijuana company, he remembered this song.
The song lyrics push back against the false dichotomy of good and evil, applying an even more pressing duality– that of oppressors and the subaltern. However, out of great violence and oppression (colonialism, the War on Drugs, etc), profound creativity can, and has, emerged. Police & Thieves is dedicated to furthering artistic achievement while simultaneously challenging the inequities of oppressed communities.
THE ACTION
As an ethical marijuana brand, our philanthropic efforts are focussed exclusively on criminal justice reform and mitigating the ravages of the war on drugs.
Right now we are partnering with the Last Prisoner Project, an organization working to free those incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes, expunging their records, and changing drug and sentencing laws. To make a donation, click here.
Our work in this area is always evolving. If there is an organization you know and love that works to mitigate injustice and spread resilience and creativity, let us know.