Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey is logging into our Google Meet interview from Mexico City when the audio cuts out on my end. While I figure out the technical difficulties, she smiles politely and laughs—“That’s why I don’t use AirPods because they always play me.”
Aggrey is no stranger to being played, having endured a less-than-ideal work experience in radio prior to venturing into cannabis full time, after which she received threats from a neighbor who was going to rat her out to the authorities. In an industry rife with hypocrisy—thousands waste away in jail cells for weed-related crimes that would be classified as “normal” purchases in legalized states—Aggrey is passionate about keeping those currently incarcerated for minor weed offenses from continuing to be played by the justice system.
“I think it’s shameful that the industry has been built on the backs of people who are in prison or who have at least paved the way when it comes to their freedom, their family, or their jobs, and yet they can’t even be represented in that space,” she said. “So it’s this bittersweet place that we’re in.”
