Plenty of people have been more than happy to hop on the pro-legalization bandwagon, but far fewer have put their money where their mouth is, especially without also pulling for personal profit. In Illinois, the fight to legalize recreational use cannabis in 2018 is already underway, and just found a new group of friends in Cards Against Humanity, the wildly popular “Party Game for Horrible People.”
Cards Against Humanity has picked ganja as the focus of their latest consumer-driven charity drive, partnering with the Marijuana Policy Project to send all of the proceeds from a newly released weed-themed pack of game cards to help fund Illinois’ fight to end prohibition. To kick off the fundraiser, the no-board board game donated $70,000 to the MPP.
“We’re proud to support the Marijuana Policy Project because our current marijuana laws are failing,” Cards Against Humanity head writer Jo Feldman said. “Nationally there are more arrests for marijuana possession each year than for all violent crimes combined. The MPP has been at the forefront of changing marijuana laws for the better, in Illinois and nationwide.”
The Cards Against Humanity “Weed Pack” costs $5, and comes in a vacuum-sealed baggy most cannabis consumers should already be familiar with. The pack weighs in at 1.6 ounces but contains no actual bud, because, as the package explicitly says, the company’s employees smoked it all.
Even if the company’s notoriously tongue-in-cheek sense of humor brings a light approach to the serious topic, officials at the MPP were more than happy to partner with the audacious card gamers.
“The team behind Cards Against Humanity is doing a great service helping us fight what really is a crime against humanity: marijuana prohibition,” said Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel for the MPP. “The Weed Pack is a hilarious approach to the topic but doesn't overlook the fundamental injustice in arresting adults for using something that is safer than alcohol.”
This isn’t the first time CAH has used their profit for philanthropy rather than seven figure salaries and company-wide pizza parties. Since the company started selling non-profit expansion packs, they’ve raised over $5 million for groups and causes like DonorsChoose.org, the EFF, the Sunlight Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation, Heifer International and the Chicago Design Museum. Now the company is using their significant power to help enact the will of the people in their home state.
“A recent poll says that 66 percent of Illinois voters support regulating marijuana like we do alcohol,” Cards Against Humanity co-creator Max Temkin said. “You’re telling me this effort is something the vast majority of people support that makes everyone happy and pays for our schools and roads, and we’re not doing it?”
At the time of print the “Weed Pack” has already brought in $83,801 for the MPP and the fight for justice in Illinois, and the Cards Against Humanity office still smelled like bong water.
“Shouldn't that pizza be here by now?” Cards Against Humanity head writer Julia Weiss said, before adding, “The Universe is like, just so… huge.”
