Nekima Levy Armstrong remembers police officers visiting her elementary school in Los Angeles and talking about the evils of drugs, including marijuana.

Today, the former Minneapolis mayoral candidate and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter, believes that message created many misperceptions and an ongoing stigma about cannabis in the minds of many people approaching 50. Long a Twin Cities-based civil rights lawyer, educator and social justice activist, she is now continuing her efforts to end the war on drugs through her latest venture: Dope Roots.

Dope Roots promotes wellness through offering low-dose hemp-derived THC products to consumers interested in microdosing and low-dose THC as part of their everyday life. Those products include canna butter, chocolate canna spread, gummies, beverages and infused baked goods like cookies.

She also is working to educate the community – particularly Black women, Latinas and their children – about the impacts of the war on drugs. She’s getting the word out through community events and other speaking opportunities. 

“The war on drugs led to a significant increase in women being incarcerated, often for low-level involvement in drug-related offenses or peripheral involvement,” she said. “So, in some ways, this is full circle.”

Expanding distribution

Dope Roots products are available in several dispensaries statewide, including Island Peži near Treasure Island Casino, Superior Cannabis Co., which has locations around the state and in The Good Zen, a Black woman-owned dispensary in Brooklyn Park.

Levy Armstrong was en route to a dispensary in Wisconsin that is interested in carrying her products while being interviewed for this story. She left her job leading the Wayfinder Foundation at the end of 2024 to focus on Dope Roots full time.

“I do public speaking and consulting and my justice work, but my main focus is Dope Roots and really trying to help the company reach its full potential – and to educate people about the power of micro-dosing, because most people aren’t aware,” she said.

A portion of her sales will be donated to support efforts to end the war on drugs and to provide technical and financial assistance to aspiring Black women cannabis entrepreneurs.

Calandra Revering, owner of The Good Zen, the state’s first Black woman-owned dispensary, stocks some of Dope Roots’ products. She appreciates the mission and the taste. 

“(The gummies) they’re a lemon flavor,” Revering said. “They’re soft, they’re juicy and they taste good.”

Revering was in private practice as an attorney and Levy Armstrong was teaching at St. Thomas when they first met. They’ve appeared on panel discussions together and share the desire for racial equity. 

In the cannabis space, Revering notes, nationally, as of 2022, just 2% of businesses are owned by Black people and 16% by women. She recalled a time when marijuana-based convictions prevented people from applying for jobs or for financial aid to attend college. That has trickled down in the Black community.

“Over the years, the money just has not been there for Black people to start these businesses,” Revering said.

Motivated by George Floyd, health issue 

Levy Armstrong initially experienced the health benefits of low-dose cannabis herself while recovering from surgery for a non-cancerous brain tumor in late 2022. But the roots of the company began, she says, during a sabbatical in September 2020 during COVID and in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She spent some time in South Carolina praying, meditating and “taking a breather from what was going on.”

“It was a very intense summer so I had to take some time away,” said Levy Armstrong.

During that month away with her youngest child, she started learning about the health benefits of cannabis. She reached out to some people in the Twin Cities who were selling CBD products to learn more and, two months later, took her two oldest daughters to a farm in Florida where they were growing CBD with plans to grow THC.

“We took a class and learned about edibles, the benefits of edible products, and how to make edibles,” Levy Armstrong said. “I just started doing research and I realized there’s not a lot of information out there, at least at the time, regarding the benefits of edibles and microdosing.”

She started with gummies and other edibles “for folks who still want to function after taking a gummy,” adding that her love for baking led her to then try cookies and brownies. She has created a canna butter and chocolate canna spread that can be used in other recipes.

“That was a huge hit,” she said. “I worked with a food scientist for several months and he formulated three different types of canna butter as well as the chocolate spread.”

Diversifying the cannabis audience

Levy Armstrong says the butters and spreads help fill a gap in the market: cannabis products designed with women, especially mothers and working professionals, in mind.

“I was really interested in thinking about products that would appeal to women, particularly mothers, working women, who might need relief,” she said.

Dope Roots also has helped her reconnect with her heritage. She fondly recalls cooking and baking with her grandmother, experiences that now feel central to her current work. Her older daughters are actively involved with Dope Roots.

“As I started to reflect upon my grandmother’s legacy and my family’s legacy, I recognize this is an actual gift, a gift that my grandmother, who passed away in 2020, passed along to me,” she said. “So, it connected me to my roots in a way that none of my other career paths had done before.”

Revering, whose own son works in her business, appreciates the family-oriented and inclusive values behind Dope Roots.

“I love that we’re walking the path together in making sure we’re keeping social justice at the forefront,” Revering said. “(Levy Armstrong) doesn’t take that for granted, which is why she’s one of my closest and dearest friends.”

Levy Armstrong shares the sentiment. She’s happy to have a growing company and to have a new avenue to support her mission in life. She’s also glad, after years of recovering from her health issues, to be healthy.

“This is probably the best I have felt in two-and-a-half-years,” she said. “I’m very glad to feel like myself again.”