“I’ve been in one of the vital maximum intense touch {that a} guy—a human—may also be in. I’ve been locked in automobiles with Snoop. I used to be at the back of my son’s dispensary they usually had been smoking each roughly weed in there… weed known as Useless Frame and Post-mortem and all this,” says Ice-T in an unique interview. “I used to be so excessive that I stood up, did a 360 like I used to be leaving, and sat back off.”
If there’s a contradiction extra compelling than this, it’s onerous to search out: Ice-T, the rapper who soundtracked generations of rise up, who rose from the streets of South Central to the badge-wearing displays of “Regulation & Order,” doesn’t smoke weed—and but, previous this yr, he opened one in every of New Jersey’s maximum expected hashish dispensaries.
At 67, Ice-T isn’t right here to accomplish a job. He’s no longer right here to play into stereotypes or chase fast wins. His tale with hashish is older than legalization. It’s layered, wary and constructed round a novel theory: survival.
“I simply by no means smoked,” he explains. “I’m an orphan. I don’t have a mom, father, sisters, brothers, uncles… And I simply at all times felt being excessive compromised my place within the streets.”
As a tender guy, Ice wasn’t repulsed by way of hashish. He used to be immersed in it. He offered it. He moved “five-finger baggage” within the post-high faculty years. He watched a pal get kicked out of college for dealing buck joints. However for himself? Smoking wasn’t a part of the plan.
“I felt like being under the influence of alcohol or excessive used to be no longer sexy to me. I felt like if I hit the bottom for some explanation why, it used to be no person’s activity to pick out me up.”
Whilst the sector round him swirled in smoke and bravery, Ice-T carved out his personal lane. No tattoos. No beverages. No medication. Simply eyes open, at all times scanning.
In a single defining second, an area OG pressed him to take a success. Ice refused. The person attempted to humiliate him. “You’s a [redacted] in the event you don’t hit the joint,” he snapped. Ice didn’t recoil: “If I’m… Then, make me hit it.” That used to be the top of it. From then on, no person wondered him. “He don’t get excessive,” the similar OG would repeat. It changed into the road of protection. An identification.
“No matter you’re going to do, it at all times will have to be a decision,” he says. “Perhaps in faculty there’s numerous peer force, however there wasn’t peer force to do it the place I grew up. You simply needed to stand to your stuff.”
He sees all of it as efficiency. “If smoking cigarettes makes you glance cool or consuming alcohol makes you glance cool, then you were given an issue… you’re doing one thing else to seem cool.”
Nonetheless, in spite of his abstinence, Ice by no means grew to become his again on hashish. He watched the trade bloom. The stigma shrink. The tradition shift.
And sooner or later, he attempted edibles. Dabbled in mushrooms. Entered the age of “power extend.”
“My son smokes so much. We are saying weed will give you power extend. So what power extend is, if I say, ‘What’s your identify?’ You assert, [pauses for 3 seconds] ‘Javier.’ I am going, ‘You wish to have to visit the shop?’ [Pauses for 3 seconds] You’re like… ‘K.’ That’s that power extend.”
Seems, even whilst you don’t smoke, proximity counts.
“I’ve been excessive off weed,” he says, recalling the aftermath of every other consult with to his son’s dispensary. By the point he were given house, he used to be in full-blown munchie mode. “We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts. It used to be 11:30 at night time. I believe I simply wanted some donuts,” he shrugs. “It’s no longer like I don’t do weed. Nevertheless it’s simply by no means been one thing I’ve been into.”
Nonetheless, he’s fast to recognize the enjoyment it brings others. The laughter. The comfort. The munchies. The vibes.
“It simply makes other people chortle so much and devour. That’s all it does. Impulsively, any comic is humorous as heck. So, that’s improbable.”
There’s no holier-than-thou angle right here. No superiority. Simply point of view. A existence constructed on vigilance that at last discovered its solution to nuance. And within the background, the industry wheels started to show.
“On the finish of the day, I knew that it used to be a perfect industry alternative. As time went on, it changed into transparent to me that this used to be a brand new wave—and it used to be one thing I sought after to get fascinated with.”
And that’s precisely the place the tale shifts—from previous to give, from non-public to skilled. The person who by no means were given excessive has now opened his personal dispensary in Jersey Town.
The Lengthy Highway To The Drugs Lady
For Ice-T, getting into the hashish trade wasn’t a star stunt—it used to be a calculated transfer, rooted in consider and imaginative and prescient. He wasn’t chasing hype. He used to be on the lookout for individuals who’d carried out the paintings.
“I knew Luke and Charis,” he says, relating to his longtime buddies and now industry companions, Charis and Luke Burrett. “I’ve identified Charis and them for a few years, from L.A. I knew them after they had a clothes line. I knew that they had been working a prison hashish dispensary in L.A. for years.”
The Burretts, founders of The Drugs Lady, were within the hashish sport lengthy prior to Ice got here knocking. Again in 2015, underneath California’s Prop 215 framework, they introduced the emblem as a nonprofit supply carrier, lengthy prior to swish branding and dispensary lounges changed into the norm.
That legacy is what Ice sought after to faucet into. However what began as a mentorship dialog temporarily advanced into one thing deeper.
“I known as them and mentioned, ‘If I’ve motion at getting a dispensary, would you guys mentor me?’ They usually mentioned, ‘No, we’ll spouse with you and we will be able to franchise The Drugs Lady.’”
The outcome? The Drugs Lady Jersey Town—a ten,000-square-foot facility situated at 660 Tonnelle Street. Simply north of Big apple Street, alongside Direction 1 and 9, the flagship dispensary opened its doorways in March of this yr.
Ice places it bluntly: “At the present time, with the fentanyl and the entire other problems, it’s more secure to visit a dispensary the place it’s directly up… you already know what’s going down.”
And that incorporates their other people. The Drugs Lady Jersey Town runs with a 15-person staff, each and every one recruited in the neighborhood. They’ve partnered with Hudson County Group School to supply internships and activity coaching. They usually’re taking part with the Ultimate Prisoner Challenge to give a boost to hashish justice reform.
“Probably the most largest demanding situations in any group is alternative,” Charis says. “Folks with hashish offenses are at an enormous drawback in terms of employment alternatives. We deliberately employed without delay from the area people and prioritized those that were adversely suffering from unfair hashish regulations.”
And it’s no longer simply communicate. “Now that we’re open,” she provides, “we can come with those organizations in our occasions and provides alternatives for the ones affected and people who want extra details about their choices.”
Ice has the same opinion. “This isn’t near to promoting hashish: it’s about growing alternative and correcting injustice in communities that had been hit toughest.”
Justice Isn’t Blind—It’s Selective. Simply Ask Ice-T.
Ice-T’s front into the hashish area isn’t rooted in novelty or nostalgia. It’s constructed on theory. He’s been looking at the contradictions for many years. The hypocrisy. The politics. The wear and tear.
“I imply, I don’t see why it’s no longer prison,” he says. “I’ve by no means heard about anyone death from hashish. They prefer to mention it’s a gateway drug or this, that and the opposite. I don’t consider that.”
His good judgment is direct. No thrives. No slogans. Simply lived revel in and the sense that some techniques had been by no means designed to offer protection to everybody similarly.
And for veterans, the problem cuts deeper. Ice doesn’t fake to be a fight vet—“I simply used to be in army coaching,” he clarifies—however he understands trauma. The sort that doesn’t put on a uniform.
“I imply, if I’ve PTSD, it simply comes from residing in South Central L.A. I’ve noticed other people get killed. The door slams and I duck. So I do know what this is.”
In a rustic flooded with prescription answers, he sees hashish as a more sensible choice for other people seeking to cope. One thing that provides peace with out habit. Nonetheless, the irony doesn’t break out him: in puts the place weed is now prison, individuals are nonetheless locked up for it.
“They will have to be letting other people move,” he says. “In case you’re in prison for weed and it’s no longer a violent offense… Simply easy weed convictions, they will have to be all pardoned, the day prior to this.”
To him, it’s no longer sophisticated. If the government legalized hashish, governors and presidents may act speedy. They simply haven’t.
He’s no longer ready round for Washington to sort things. That’s why he’s backing initiatives just like the Ultimate Prisoner Challenge and dealing to construct actual infrastructure in Jersey—jobs, internships, get admission to.
And in terms of regulation enforcement, the topic will get disturbing. Ice has performed a cop on TV for many years. However he’s by no means perplexed the function with fact.
“No, they don’t [love me]. That’s the item about it. Police officers are people. A few of them are cool. A few of them don’t seem to be. So that you by no means know.”
His conclusion? Easy.
“I don’t consider anyone with a gun.”
Because the gadget catches up, Ice assists in keeping shifting ahead. Along with his companions. Along with his dispensary. Along with his undertaking. All the time with the similar secure lens: energy, justice and survival.
Pictures courtesy of The Drugs Lady
This newsletter used to be firstly printed on Forbes on April 8, 2025. It’s republished right here with permission. Minor updates had been made for timing and readability.
