King It On: Moisturising Conservative Opinion

In the UK, we’ve just recently received our latest monarch – King Charles III.

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This isn’t going to be a piece on the merits or drawbacks of a monarchy, so just drop your support or opposition right now. It’s a broader thought about how the impact of ‘the establishment’ could, if it wanted to, become a force for good in cannabis.

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There's a lot of celebrity cannabis advocates out there – from sports stars, actors, and musicians. But what if cannabis got the royal treatment? Imagine for a moment, that in King Charles III’s’ coronation speech, he declared that he had been a cannabis enjoyer all his life.

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It’s ridiculous, I know, but bear with me.

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Words and Trust

Whatever way you look at it, it’s fair to say that coverage is key.

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The world's press has gone to town on Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Not because it cherishes death or suffering, but because it’s fantastic to have a narrative that can be laid out, picked apart, and repeated, all while keeping the attention of the audience.

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I’ve been on countless calls in the past week or so where Europeans and Americans alike have all either offered their condolences or asked what the mood in the UK is like. That’s the power of coverage. It’s suddenly in mind and on tongue 24/7.

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And that’s where the premise of this hypothetical situ stems from.

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So if, out of nowhere, the King suddenly announced that he was in favour of cannabis as a therapeutic endeavour, it would be everywhere.

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Now, us in the industry would probably have a good giggle, and maybe even suggest that we saw it a mile off, years ago, but the wider impact, in homes and businesses and families and culture – well that would just be huge.

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And that’s because change takes time. KC3 doesn’t have the kind of power to make legislative change overnight. But if he were to spotlight the issue it would moisturise the lips of discourse.

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Lathering Change

All things considered, any admission of cannabis use from KCIII would function primarily as a catalyst. It’d kickstart more conversations and shared ideas.

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The domino effect is that it’d get the rest of us chatting too. But we don’t need a monarch to make a difference. Not really. It’s up to the rest of us to have conversations about cannabis, and keep them going – if we want to normalise cannabis. So chat about it with your barber, cabby, butcher, sod it – even let the candlestick maker know.

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Just to round this off succinctly, the King isn’t going to shout about the last time he hit a bowl of OGKush (Prince Harry might, but…). However, that doesn’t stop you from talking to others about cannabis. Go in, not armed to fight, but to moisturise, slowly softening the beliefs hardened by time and a lack of attention.

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Ultimately, the more we moisturise the chapped conservative lips around cannabis, the more credible our cause becomes. And in the absence of any regal admission, that's just what we’ll have to keep doing.

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thermidor< is a content-led, cannabis-focused, creative agency. We work with B2B, B2C, and D2C brands to develop messaging, brand, and tone of voice, as well as create written, audio, and visual content such as blogs, whitepapers, podcasts, and event films.

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