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California's MediThrive paints its walls the national colors of Ukraine to show support.

Green Goes Blue and Gold

Dispensaries step up to support Ukrainians ravaged by war.

CALL TO ACTION If you want to help those a ected by the war in Ukraine, you can support the businesses mentioned here and donate to World Kitchen (wck. org), Hope for Ukraine (hopeforukraine.net), and Sun ower of Peace (sun owerofpeace.com). TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has displaced more than 6.5 million people and continues to devastate a nation determined to fi ght for its sovereignty. Ukrainians have fought bravely on the ground against a far superior force, but this modern war is also being waged across the globe on social media and in the power of a global economy uniting against it. The cannabis industry has even joined in the effort to bring aid to Ukrainians and protest the immorality of Putin’s war.

San Francisco-based dispensary MediThirve (medithrive.com), which is owned by Ukrainian-Americans, painted its outside walls blue and gold (Ukraine’s national colors) and donated 100 percent sales on March 6 and 10 percent of sales thereafter for the week, to Sunfl ower of Peace, which is providing medical and humanitarian aid to the beleaguered nation. “I hope to do more as time goes on and be more hands on in the next eff ort,” says CEO Misha Breyburg. “Anything and everything helps. This is a time in the world where a social post or a fi nancial donation is of the utmost importance. Every voice that speaks up with disgust about the war in Ukraine contributes to something bigger. It’s akin to that old idiom that a butterfl y fl apping its wings creates a tsunami.”

MediThrive is not alone in its eff orts. Homeland Growers Company (hvgcompany. com) normally donates 100 percent of its profi ts to aid veterans, but is dedicating that money to help Ukrainians through World Kitchen this month. California cannabis manufacturer Lime (limecannabis.co), with 30 percent of its workforce from countries aff ected by the war, donated a portion of its March sales to nonprofi t Hope for Ukraine.

“In my 50 years, I’ve never seen people so ubiquitously on the same page as they are to help Ukrainians against the Russian invasion,” says Breyburg. “There are so many issues that divide us and, in the past 20 years, it feels as if we’ve been stuck in polarizing positions on those issues. We’re on the same page with Ukraine, and I hope that’s an opportunity to build bridges.”