Though he's associated with all things New Jersey - The Sopranos, Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band - guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt hails from Massachusetts. That explains why his entry into the canna-business is happening in the Bay State, where pot's legal and a commercial market already exists.
Prerolls from Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary are now available at Canna Provisions pot shops in Holyoke and Lee. The weed, grown locally by Smash Hits, is a high-CBD, low-THC strain.
"Little Steven wanted to be sure to have an approachable, low-THC and high-CBD cannabis that is less about the recreational high and more for people seeking the benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids like high-CBD cannabis on the body and mind,” Canna Provisions CEO Meg Sanders said about the launch.
In addition to the cannabis products, Van Zandt has a line of teas and pops sold via the Wicked Cool Wellness website. The key ingredients are kava, tumeric, ginger and manuka.
"Take charge of your own wellness," Van Zandt noted “Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary was created to help combat that issue by focusing on natural, holistic remedies. Some will help relax you, some will help energize you. We need to help spread cannabis education, destigmatization and stop unjust criminalization for a plant that not only does a lot of good but has proven during Covid to be essential to people’s well being and quality of life."
Little Steven: "Why would alcohol be legal and marijuana not be legal? I mean, if anybody can just answer me that question, I'll go away."
Update: In an interview with WAMC Northeast Public Radio, Van Zandt said he hasn't smoked pot since the '60s. "We did those kinds of drugs for reasons of trying to expand our consciousness," Van Zandt explained. "We did not do drugs in the '60s to escape. Those kind of drugs would come later in the '70s, like cocaine and things like that, which is a whole different animal. But the hallucinogenics, whether it was marijuana, or hashish, those kinds of things, were our way of trying to expand our consciousness.”
He added: "Why would alcohol be legal and marijuana not be legal? I mean, if anybody can just answer me that question, I'll go away, you know, but I just think it's obvious that it needs to be legal. I mean, it doesn't hurt anybody. The worst thing that happens to you, it makes you hungry.”
Van Zandt's family moved to New Jersey when he was seven. He met Springsteen eight years later. In 1975, Van Zandt (by then christened "Little Steven") joined the E Street Band, playing rhythm guitar and singing harmonies. In 1999, he was hired to portray mobster Silvio Dante on the HBO series, The Sopranos. For nearly 20 years, he's hosted the radio show, Little Steven's Underground Garage.
