Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong entered the cannabis market in 2020 with pre-rolled joints and smokeable flower sold at California dispensaries. By 2023, they shifted focus to federally legal hemp and expanded distribution through nationwide retail deals and hemp dispensaries in Texas. Their two companies are on track for roughly $100 million in revenue this year, largely driven by hemp sales. Hemp was federally defined in 2018 as cannabis with under 0.3% Delta-9-THC, making it legal nationwide while California prohibits hemp sales. Federal legality reduces regulatory and tax burdens and enables broader interstate distribution compared with state-legal marijuana.
Chong and Marin's two cannabis companies are on track to make $100 million in revenue this year, up from $50 million last year, with the majority of that money coming from hemp sales, according to a profile in Forbes this week. Hemp is illegal to sell in California, meaning the state's two most famous stoners are having booming success by avoiding the state.
Hemp and marijuana products are considered cannabis products, but in 2018, Congress carved out hemp as a distinct legal category. This new definition allowed any product that was sourced from cannabis plants with less than 0.3% Delta-9-THC to be considered hemp and federally legal. However, this distinction is usually indistinguishable for most consumers, with both hemp and marijuana products coming in intoxicating products sold as joints, edibles and smokeable flower.
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