Snoop Dogg launches marijuana website

“My name is Snoop Dogg and I’m a stoner.”

Looking super high onstage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, the rapper introduced new weed website Merry Jane, the latest in a series of tech investments he has made over the past few years.

Merry Jane is a media, education and entertainment website for weed aficionados. When it launches to the public, people will be able to surf strains of weed to see how different types affect the body. They will be able to read “lifestyle” articles and videos about cannabis — including a cooking with weed show — and search for local dispensaries.

Merry Jane tops off a list of tech investments by Snoop, which includes dabbling in Reddit and Philz Coffee, starting his own seed venture firm to fund cannabis startups and launching his latest album “Bush” on tech discovery site Product Hunt.

“We’d be a better world if everyone comes out of the closet and admits they like to smoke,” Snoop said.

But when the crowd was asked to raise their hand if they like weed, only a few crept up. Despite legalization in places like Colorado and California, smoking marijuana still carries a stigma. That’s part of what Snoop and his co-founder Ted Chung hope to change with the service.

“We are the information hotline to cannabis,” said Snoop. “I am the grand professor, face of the game, the one, the originator.”

Chung translated: “If [your mom] wants to find out more about it, Merry Jane is the perfect place … Whether you’re a smoker or not a smoker we provide you a comfortable experience.”

The entire design team is made up of women and the site was created with both genders in mind, they said.

Read also: Snoop Dogg sues beer firm over brand sale

Snoop aired “Deflowered,” a clip from an upcoming video series where people share stories about their first-time weed experiences. The clip stars military veterans smoking weed to deal with anxiety and PTSD. “Coming home and operating at zero, that white noise is deafening,” one of the vets said on-screen. “Medical marijuana is the only medication I’ve experienced that has beneficial results.”

Merry Jane joins a list of other marijuana tech startups including Eaze and Meadow which offer on-demand weed.

Snoop wants Merry Jane to play an advocacy role, helping propel the political debate around marijuana legalization while also teaching people how to incorporate it into their lifestyles.

“Why do you like cannabis so much?” asked the interviewer.

“I should take you to my green room,” Snoop said, sparking laughter in the audience before he got serious. “Look at Colorado. Since legalizing cannabis they’re making so much money, putting it back into the community, the crime rate going down. If it does that around the whole world, what kind of world would we live in?”

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