Marijuana art defies stereotypes

WATERLOO (CUP) – Though popular culture might have us believe otherwise, Darrin Grandmason, founder of Mary Jane Goods, discovered marijuana use is not restricted to just us young folks.
Taking cannabis to an artistic level, Mary Jane Goods delivers a special product unlike anything currently on the market.
Grandmason recognized the budding market for marijuana-related artwork and founded Mary Jane Goods, which he claims is “the only producer, marketer, and retailer of speciality products featuring the genetic fingerprint of the cannabis sativa plant.”
The idea for transforming marijuana’s genetic code into artwork came to Grandmason – who had previously completed an advanced microbiology course – while he was working on the creation of genetic prints of spices for an Australian client in the culinary arts business.
“I started thinking of other plants to do and it kind of dawned on me that maybe I should try and run Mary Jane’s fingerprint,” said Grandmason.
Now the unique design appears on a range of products like T-shirts, art stash boxes, and canvasses to custom products by request.
Despite common assumptions that marijuana users are mostly delinquent youth, Grandmason describes his clients as a “cross-representation of a bunch of generations – generations Y, X and baby-boomers.”
“I think the appeal is the fact that it’s kind of an inside joke for them, because it is more discrete than a large marijuana leaf on a T-shirt,” he said.
The range of people interested in the design surprised Grandmason.
“[It] was more [well] received than I thought it would be, because I thought a lot of people would think losers and stoners and things like that.”
Along with a distinctive design concept, Grandmason also believes it is important for Mary Jane Goods to maintain a level of environmental conscientiousness and social responsibility.
In a consumer culture where it seems every commodity we purchase has excessive plastic and cardboard packaging, Mary Jane Goods tries to cut back on packaging made from environmentally harmful materials.
“I thought it was very important we use minimum secondary packaging when we ship the products, and we tend to use and stick towards the recyclable and renewable resources that have the least impact on the environment, like hemp,” Grandmason said.
All Mary Jane Goods T-shirts are made from 70 per cent hemp and 30 per cent organic cotton. The company also participates in a carbon fund.
“We purchase back our carbon units that are generated from shipping the product, handling the product, and maintaining a manufacturing site,” Grandmason said. “We zero ourselves down, so we are in fact using zero carbon units.”
A portion of profit from each product sold – 4.20 per cent to be exact – is donated to Students for Sensible Drug Policy – “an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities.”
“We looked at a bunch of different charities, but I think SSDP had the greatest appeal to us because it starts right in the communities themselves . . . It has the greatest impact at the community level.”
In Canada, products can be purchased online at www.maryjanegoods.com. T-shirt prices start at $45, art stash boxes are $39, and canvas starts at $89, but they will take requests for other items such as skateboard decks, wallpaper and larger print formats.
Grandmason thinks people should not be prejudiced about Mary Jane clients.
“The assumptions you would make about the typical person that might be a fan or aficionado of Mary Jane is not at all the typical person. There are doctors, lawyers, soccer moms, and athletes – it blew my assumptions,” he said.