Well-known Atlanta pastor Jamal Bryant said he wants to start growing weed in an effort to drive more Black men to church.
On a recent episode of the "Cool Soror" podcast with Rashan Ali, Bryant, a lead pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, explained that he hopes to launch a cannabis business on the church's grounds to teach Black men entrepreneurship and entice them to attend service, per Black Enterprise.
“I’m looking for people that smell like weed," Bryant declared. "New Birth is the largest land-owning Black church in America. My position to my deacons is ‘why aren’t we not raising cannabis?'"
Bryant's comments left Ali shocked, but the pastor continued to explain his plan.
“I’ll be able to bring in Black males. They’re able to do it legally. I’m teaching them farming. I’m helping them to enhance the ecosystem. This is the kind of conversation. So if the guy, Black boy, in Bankhead said ‘they growing weed at the church? Where do I join?’ I don’t need no pamphlet for him,” Bryant said on the podcast.
The concept would face major obstacles coming to fruition in Georgia, where marijuana laws are tougher than in most states, per Georgia’s Department of Health.
“Georgia’s law is much more limited than some other states’ medical marijuana laws. For example, it does not legalize the sale or possession of marijuana in leaf form, and it does not authorize the production or sale of food products infused with low-THC oil or the ingestion of low-THC oil through vapor. It does not authorize physicians to prescribe marijuana for medical use. It is intended solely to protect qualified persons from criminal prosecution for possessing low-THC oil for medicinal purposes,” per BET.
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.