Benito Díaz
“Cannabis is a window or a door to a consciousness different to consciousness. It gives you the option of perceiving through a different lens of awakening and healing; the wrong perception of distance as an illusion that prevents you from being focused on your essential core. It helps you realise, accept and possess a quality of life that entails a state of joy”, declared the guitarist Carlos Santana in a press release where he announced his intention of launching a line of products related to marijuana.
The official presentation to the California market will take place during the summer of 2020, and will include flowers and cigars. Also, a line of products revolving around CBD will be presented, with recipes inspired in the Santana family, in October of the same year. Santana’s relation with the plant is so close that already during his childhood in Jalisco his mother prepared a balm using cannabis and alcohol to treat bruises.
The company chosen by the maestro is no other than Left Coast Ventures, a company that already manages other musicians’ brands like Mind Your Head, created with Mickey Hart from Grateful Dead and Marley Natural, in collaboration with the Bob Marley estate. “We are thrilled to be releasing brands of CBD of cannabis and hemp that profoundly respect the latin heritage and celebrate the unique light of each individual”, stated Left Coast Ventures CEO, Brett Cummings. “It is a true honour to work with a legendary, dynamic musician like Santana, who has influenced millions through his music and who shares our values and passion to legitimise cannabis future”.
The first time that Santana proposed a cannabis product was in 2017, when he promoted the use of an inhaler, developed by Marisol Therapeutics, named “Smooth” after one of his greatest hits. The musician said regarding the project: “In the long run we want to raise awareness in society about the fact that drugs and medicine are two different things. Humans create drugs in labs while mother nature produces medicine in its forests”.
Activism
Santana’s commitment to social causes has been patent since the start of his career, dealing with the subject of marijuana in many of his works and letting psychedelia be felt in his personal style.
Not only did he demand in 2009 an integral legalisation from president Barack Obama; cannabis is only one of the fronts of Carlos Santana’s fight: for instance, he took part as an executive producer in the documentary movie “Dolores”, about the life and work of Dolores Huerta, who led the fight for racial and labour justice along with César Chávez, turning into one of the most notable feminists of the XX century. Also, her work inspired him to create the Milagro foundation in 1998. The foundation supports young people and children who have been unattended in areas like health and artistic education.
The artist
Carlos Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco (Mexico), on July 20th, 1947. In 1966 he founded the band Santana, one of the first to fuse latin music and rock, giving birth to his particular style of blues jam rock.
Carlos played in Woodstock when he was 22, which boosted his career and allowed him to devote all his energy to shine thanks to his expressive guitar style. He recorded more than 40 records, among which “Supernatural” stands out. The album received several Grammy awards. Some of his songs have also received these awards, like “Oye cómo va” or “Black Magic Woman”.
Rolling Stone magazine placed him in number 20 of the best 100 guitar players of all times in 2003. Afterwards he was awarded a place on the “100 greatest artists ever” list. His albums “Santana” and “Abraxas” are part of the “500 best albums ever”, and he is the main writer and producer of both of them.