Former Gov. Jesse Ventura gets into the cannabis business, launching his own line of edibles

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura announced Wednesday he’s getting into the cannabis business, partnering with a Columbia Heights hemp company to produce Ventura-branded lines of edibles.

“I can finally announce that today, Gov. Jesse “The Body” Ventura, is in the cannabis game. I can’t tell you how truly amazing this feels,” Ventura wrote in his announcement. “To finally be able to LEGALLY share with you, products from a plant that has had such an amazing impact on my life. Not to mention the historical significance of being the first U.S. Governor to officially put his name on a Cannabis brand.”

The partnership between Ventura and cannabis edibles company Retro Bakery will be known as “Jesse Ventura Farms.” Ventura’s announcement noted that he interviewed hundreds of cannabis companies over the past few years before choosing Retro Bakery, a small business located just a few miles away from where the former governor raised his family.

“Everything will be created by Retro Bakery using Jesse’s name,” the former governor’s son, Tyrel Ventura, told the Star Tribune on Wednesday. “He’s giving them his name and IP to create multiple different lines and products moving forward.”

Tyrel Ventura added that “a percentage of certain product proceeds will be donated to multiple charities” dedicated to environmental cleanup, veterans and people harmed by the war on drugs.

Jesse Ventura was a longtime advocate for marijuana legalization and testified in favor of it at the State Capitol last year. He shared with legislators how the drug helped stop his wife’s seizures about a decade ago. When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana last year, Ventura and his wife, Terry, stood beside him.