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In December last year, Jay-Z launched Monogram, with a four-strain line of craft, indoor-grown cannabis flower, and joints.

He’s just one of the celebs partnering with high-end manufacturers, marketing cannabis in the same way that you’d market a fine cigar.

A number of states in the US have either legalised or decriminalised the smoking and buying of cannabis, for personal or medicinal use, and in some cases, both.

The latest player in the game is Seth Rogen, who makes no secret of his love of a joint, but felt that the setup and general merch associated with cannabis smoking lacked class.

As Architectural Digest puts it –  before cigarettes were taboo, the ashtray was a “piece of home decoration that was as common as it was artful”.

Rogen wants to do something similar for the cannabis smokers of the world with his new company Houseplant, offering a line of household goods, like lighters and ashtrays.

“We are trying to really consider people who smoke weed in a way that they have not been considered before,” Rogen tells AD. “Just like alcohol has martini shakers, wine glasses, and corkscrews. If you are someone who smokes weed, there is really none of that. There are Bic lighters and you are ashing into a mug half the time.”

Rogen says that this particular venture, which he’s realising with longtime friend and filmmaking partner Evan Goldberg, has been almost a decade in the making:

The company was in the works long before US states started the slow crawl towards legalisation, which explains why it took so long to launch (it will be up and running from later today).

The first round of offerings will include an ashtray and a matching vase:

The above was based on one turned on Rogen’s own pottery wheel.

“I think I took little bits of different ashtrays that I had and combined them,” Rogen says of his design.

“Some ashtrays from the ’60s had these little beds, but what they didn’t have is a deep well. I found that if you have too shallow a well and someone walks by, ash blows everywhere. User-friendliness and a utilitarian edge is something that was incredibly important.”

You can read more about his love of pottery here.

A block table lighter:

And, a set of three vinyl records with songs curated to set the mood for smoking different strains of weed:

Other products will follow in the coming weeks including a marble lighter that hearkens back to those once found in cars:

Brian Richer at Castor Design collaborated with the Houseplant team on the car lighter.

“It was almost a scary moment for me when I realized I was able to express myself as clearly through a lighter as I was through a film,” he says.

“Working on this company really became an obsession for me and the whole team. It was gratifying to feel like we were putting thought into an area that had not had thought put into it before. Whenever you feel like you are doing something original it is just really great.”

Per CNN, Houseplant will also be offering a cannabis delivery service in California. Rogen sees the business as another way that they’re supporting drug policy reform organisations, and have announced a forthcoming mentorship program for “underserved entrepreneurs” in the cannabis industry called InHouse.

“Evan and I also recognize that our lifelong dream of starting a cannabis lifestyle brand like Houseplant comes with a commitment to changing the unjust and racist cannabis laws that still exist in today’s society,” Rogen said.

“We understand our responsibility to help right those wrongs and are dedicated to creating a more diverse, equitable cannabis industry.”

Obviously, Rogen tests out all of his own products, so you know they’re good.

[source:architecturaldigest]