Seth Rogen and his movie-making partner Evan Goldberg appeared on Marijuana Policy Project's "Reimagining Justice" Zoom program on July 15.
Rogen started by calling the drug war "racist" and apologizing for his white privilege.
Seth Rogen's Statement
"We need to correct our wrong. [Marijuana] should not be illegal in the first place. It needs to be fixed. We cannot understand more that we are approaching this from a very privileged place as white people in the cannabis industry. I can see that I have been far less negatively affected from outward cannabis use compared to many friends who are not white. It puts extra pressure on ourselves to really make good in this space and to not shy away from the uncomfortable conversations. We have not been negatively affected by a lot of this stuff and now we are trying to benefit from it. We have to reconcile that. Expungement is a really good way to reconcile that. It's a step in the right direction, especially now with so many more people out of work, so many can't get jobs because of (criminal) records. It's more important to give people back the rights that were taken from them."
Goldberg added: "We're creating an industry here and we have a chance to forge it the way we want."
They both endorsed National Expungement Week, which focuses on removing drug arrests from peoples' records.
In 2019, Rogen and Goldberg, who are both from Vancouver, founded the cannabis company Houseplant with support from Canopy Growth. They offer a product line that includes flower, prerolls, sodas and gel caps. Houseplant is currently only avaialble in Canada.
The dynamic duo made their mark in Hollywood with a series of stoner comedies, including Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, This Is the End, Neighbors and The Night Before. While Rogen acts, writes and produces, Goldberg stays behind the camera. Their latest movie project is An American Pickle.
