NEWS
B Y K E L LY K E N O Y E R
OG ANALYTICAL REVELATION SENDS RIPPLES
THROUGH CANNABIS COMMUNITY
Eugene marijuana folks distance themselves from the company
T
he local marijuana community has been reeling
following revelations that a local cannabis-testing
lab is owned by an alleged white supremacist.
After allegations that Bethany Sherman of OG
Analytical has been involved with white suprema-
cist groups, numerous cannabis businesses and organiza-
tion came forward to distance themselves from the con-
troversial company, including a few who refuse to conduct
future business with OG Analytical.
Eugene Antifa, Rose City Antifa and PNW Antifacist
Workers’ Collective published a report, “Introducing Mr.
& Mrs. Blackhat: The Nazis in Your Neighborhood,” al-
leging Sherman and her partner, Matthew Combs, are ac-
tive in white supremacist circles. “He aims to bring white
nationalists together in the region with the goal of estab-
lishing a whites-only homeland in the Pacific Northwest,”
antifa writes of Combs.
The report points to a Twitter account the writers link to
Sherman in which she allegedly describes herself as “#na-
tionalist mommy. Our children deserve to be raised in a
wholesome environment free of oppression against whites.”
After the antifa story made headlines, Women Leaders
in Cannabis (WLC) released a statement on its Facebook
page: “Women Leaders has zero tolerance for any form of
fascism, racism, and bigotry. Women Leaders LLC, as it
exists today, is a completely new entity.”
WLC co-president Anna Kaplan tells EW that the crimi-
nalization of marijuana was founded in racism, so she says
the push for legalization and changing the reputation of the
plant should be founded in equality.
“There is no part of our core values that is in line with
any of the ideologies or actions from Sherman,” Kaplan
says, adding that WLC pushes for “inclusivity for any
women interested.”
Though Sherman founded the original WLC, that version
dissolved in 2016 and today’s WLC is an entirely new entity,
Kaplan says. “The Women Leaders organization that exists
today was founded by myself and the current leaders of the
board,” she says. “Legally speaking, the two are unrelated.”
Wendy Mintey, another WLC board member, says of
Sherman: “I would really like to hope that her personal
views don’t have an effect on the industry.”
Though she disagrees strongly with Sherman’s view-
points, Mintey says the antifa article that brought her be-
liefs to light may have gone too far in doxxing (giving the
home address of) the owner of OG Analytical.
“It could be really unsafe for her and her family,” she
says. “I don’t think that was appropriate.”
Mintey says WLC is meant to be “a safe source of ca-
maraderie in the industry,” and adds of the white supremacy
allegations against Sherman, “We want ladies and everyone
to feel safe and included in the industry and we don’t share
any of those nasty, hate-filled discriminatory views at all.”
Sherman has not responded to requests for comment by
EW, writing in an email, “I will not be responding to any ad-
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BETHANY SHERMAN
Bethany Sherman writes in a statement
to The Oregonian: “I find it extremely
disconcerting that it is admired and
revered to have ‘Gay Pride,’ ‘Black
Pride,’ ‘Asian Pride,’ or pride in any
other cultural heritage, but if you
have ‘White Pride,’ it automatically
makes you a Nazi, and you are
ostracized, attacked, and lynched by
your community. I admit, I am proud
that I am white, and I’m not ashamed
of my heritage. And I admit that I have
been so conditioned to feel shame
about this pride that I discreetly sought
community where I could.”
WHAT ’S
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ditional media inquiries” from Eugene Weekly. In response
to EW’s first request for comment on the issue, Sherman
hinted at legal ramifications if the paper published a story
about the allegations against her.
However, in a statement she gave The Oregonian,
which broke the story, Sherman writes: “I find it extremely
disconcerting that it is admired and revered to have ‘Gay
Pride,’ ‘Black Pride,’ ‘Asian Pride,’ or pride in any other
cultural heritage, but if you have ‘White Pride,’ it automat-
ically makes you a Nazi, and you are ostracized, attacked,
and lynched by your community. I admit, I am proud that I
am white, and I’m not ashamed of my heritage. And I ad-
mit that I have been so conditioned to feel shame about this
pride that I discreetly sought community where I could.”
The future of OG Analytical is still unclear. One em-
ployee told EW that Sherman fired everyone at the compa-
ny on Dec. 6, but Sherman has made statements to Leafly.
com and The Oregonian that she intends to sell the com-
pany. “I’ve already received four inquiries regarding the
sale,” she told Leafly.
Sherman also said she has received a lot of support from
the community. “For every ugly bigot who throws crude,
hateful remarks at me for my thoughts, I have two beautiful
humans reaching out,” she wrote.
After the allegations came out, weed business Eugene
OG came under fire from critics who confused the business
with OG Analytical due to the OG in both names. “OG” is
long associated with weed, sometimes linked to “original
gangster” and sometimes to “ocean grown.”
After the issue was clarified, calls came for local retail-
ers to not sell pot tested by OG Analytical.
Local cannabis retailer Eugreen is one of the retailers
that will no longer associate with companies that continue
to get testing from OG Analytical. Eugreen owner Brad
Rowe says, “I definitely won’t accept any flower that’s
been tested by that lab after that date.”
Rowe says he doesn’t expect this to hold up testing too
much. OG Analytical is one of three labs that tests cannabis
in Eugene, with just 12 in the entire state. “They had such
a strong reputation as a good lab because they were around
for a while,” Rowe says.
Rowe says he’ll finish out his current stock of products
tested by OG Analytical that was tested before the allega-
tions made headlines Dec. 6, but he won’t work with com-
panies that continue to work with OG Analytical. “I can’t
really blame a person for not knowing, but I certainly can
blame them if they don’t change moving forward,” Rowe
says.
The CO2 Company, which creates products like vape
pens, sent an email to its customers on Friday, Dec. 8, stat-
ing, “This week, we learned that OG Analytical was involved
in allegations of being associated with neo-Nazi groups. In
light of this news, we have immediately discontinued all
business with this company and are currently in search of a
new lab to test our products from here forward.” ■
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eugeneweekly.com • December 14, 2017
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