Social media never seems to accept marijuana content, so much so that individuals with cannabis-related pages were left with flags and warnings about how their content would be removed if it continues to promote a federally illegal drug. 

These individuals started looking for other options to express their passion for the plant. Enter WeedTube, the cannabis community’s version of YouTube. In recent news, the marijuana video platform company just released a petition that lobbies Instagram to change its policies on censoring content related to cannabis. 

On the petition, which you can sign here, it notes that Instagram must reform its “Community Guidelines to treat all legally operating cannabis businesses equally.” WeedTube continued to expand on how the social media platform has been “actively suppressing and deleting accounts and content related to legal cannabis for years.”

It also explained that social media platforms, especially major ones like Instagram, have it in their power to allow “fair and equal opportunity to legally operating businesses and content creators.” And that should include cannabis considering the plant is legal (in some form) in most states. 

WeedTube’s co-founder and creative director, Arend Richard, noted in a press release that he hopes the petition would spark a needed conversation between Instagram and the legal cannabis space to “develop best practices so that we can promote our businesses in a safe and professional manner.”

According to The GrowthOp, Richard was once a proud cannabis YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers. But, when the video platform began cracking down on weed content, Richard’s account was deactivated. This inspired him and other like-minded creators to form WeedTube, a place where new and experienced cannabis users can feel welcome, included, seen, and respected. 

Per WeedTube’s website, one month after Richard’s YouTube account was deactivated, WeedTube raised about $19,000 in three days and launched operations shortly after. But it isn’t just Instagram users that have borne the brunt of unjust censorship and strict guidelines. 

Instagram’s parent company, Facebook, is also standing firm on its views against marijuana and how it prohibits “individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana,” reports The GrowthOp. 

The outlet spoke with two brave women from Canada, Annie Bertrand and Jordana Zabitsky, about their Facebook group, “Mothers Mary,” which invites cannabis-consuming mothers to share their experiences and tips about parenting. With over 5,000 members, it wasn’t long before Facebook started sending warnings about taking their content down. 

“We just fully walked away from those 5,000 people because it was just too stressful every day waking up and wondering, is everything that we’ve worked on going to be gone?” Bertrand said to The GrowthOp when explaining why she closed the social media page.