RAW founder Josh Kesselman: NYC weed culture went up in smoke with legalization, gray-market crackdown

Marijuana magnate Josh Kesselman, the founder and CEO of the RAW brand of popular cannabis products, has taken umbrage with the way business is being handled in his hometown when it comes to the pot trade.

The New York City native, known in some circles as the “Willy Wonka” of the weed industry, strongly opposes the recent crackdown on smoke shops that “illegally” sell weed.

In February, Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced plans with local law enforcement and elected officials “to combat the proliferation of illegal, unlicensed cannabis dispensaries in Manhattan.”

New York City council members introduced two bills this month calling for a public awareness campaign on the dangers of purchasing cannabis products from unlicensed spots, and another bill to add 311 as a complaint category to report unlicensed cannabis retailers.

The measures particularly hit home for the West Village-born cannabis connoisseur who started his first pot enterprise while at college in Gainesville, Florida.

“I am strongly against cracking down on these people; they are entrepreneurs,” Kesselman told The Daily News. “I believe in business very strongly. And business should be a free market economy, where the consumer decides if he wants to buy the unregulated product or the regulated product for a higher price.”

“That is the choice that the consumer should make, not some dude with a gun and a badge and a stick to beat me with,” he continued. “Those stores have been here for a long time. They’re paying a lot of rent in New York City, they are keeping York City afloat. And they deserve to be treated with respect.”

Kesselman is a proponent of increased taxation as an alternative — because the current plan is “not productive towards a free economy.”

“It’s not productive to help New York because we are better off as consumers when we have multiple choices,” he added.

Putting his money where his mouth is, Kesselman announced in August his donation of $100,000 to The JUSTÜS Foundation for the launching of the the RAW Seeds Fellowships. The grant program aims to provide opportunity to “legacy cannabis operators” — people who were involved in the cannabis industry prior to its decriminalization — navigating the new, legal market.

“As the industry undergoes a significant transformation, emerging from the shadows and embracing legality, it is crucial that those who built it from the ground up are the beneficiaries, along with the communities they come from,” he said in a statement.

The crackdowns haven’t had any direct effect on his bottom line, however, because as long as people are smoking, he said, they’re going to get his products one way or another.

According to Forbes, the New York-headquartered company grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand tripled and revenues exceeded $100 million.

The University of Florida alum tells The News that hip hop icons Big Daddy Kane and Wu-Tang Clan inspired the name of the brand. Over 20 years later, rapper Wiz Khalifa was inspired to write a song about the popular rolling paper, which has a natural brown color. RAW also counts Miley Cyrus and Lil Wayne as fans.

Despite marijuana being illegal at the federal level, 23 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam have legalized recreational adult-use of cannabis. He believes the government approval has discouraged the usage and makes it “less fun, less cool.”

“The marijuana culture is dying,” Kesselman shared. “Everybody smokes, nobody cares. So it’s not creating a drug culture. In fact, it makes it where the younger generation doesn’t give a fudge. They don’t care at all. It’s not illegal, they don’t care about it, the allure goes away when you make it legal… I think consumption rates are going to slightly decrease in the long run, because it’s no longer cool. Because you can just get it at the corner store, you know.”