Police & Thieves is a woman and minority owned and operated luxury cannabis company based in Denver, Colorado forwarding aesthetic inclinations in a planet-positive manner.
While the name alludes to the roots reggae classic that became the
bassline riddim of late 1970’s counterculture around the world, it is
simultaneously an encapsulation of our larger teleology of symmetry via
disparate forces.
“Police and Thieves” is a song by
Junior Murvin
about ceaseless violence in 1970s Jamaica.
The lyrics suggest that cops and criminals –
both armed – are two sides of the same coin.
As a young gang member, company co-founder
David Tomas Martinez used to frequently listen to
the song in his friends’ cars – a rare moment of bliss
in an environment studded with risks.
Decades later, when Martinez was thinking of starting a
marijuana company that playfully blended the subversive
with the sophisticated, he remembered this song.
Though the lyrics describe an age-old dichotomy, the
fact of the song’s creation hinted at a much larger duality
– that out of great violence and oppression (British
colonialism, the War on Drugs, etc), profound art often
emerged (reggae and rap being two prime examples).
Mainstream marijuana brands were whitewashing this
entire history.
The brand name Police & Thieves is thus a
potent
reminder and a line in the sand about where this culture
came from, and how to move it forward.
