Two Buffalo Cannabis Network Premier members landed in national cannabis press this January — and the story is bigger than a product drop. Skyworld Cannabis and Case Study Labs announced a partnership with the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), a nonprofit focused on freeing people still incarcerated for cannabis offenses and supporting their reentry. The campaign has since been covered by High Times, Cash & Color Cannabis, and Cannabis & Tech Today.
White Apple Runtz — The Product Behind the Campaign
The flagship product is White Apple Runtz, a hybrid indoor strain from Skyworld with a 3.5% terpene profile — apple candy, cream, tropical citrus. Its abbreviated name, WAR, is a direct reference to the War on Drugs. The acronym isn’t an accident. It’s the campaign’s central statement: the same plant now sold legally in New York dispensaries put hundreds of thousands of people behind bars.
Case Study Labs designed the packaging. The WAR jar features archival imagery — historical figures from the Nixon and Reagan eras who built and enforced drug prohibition — placed directly on a premium cannabis product. It’s the kind of visual tension that makes you think twice at the point of purchase.
Partners for Freedom
The partnership operates under LPP’s Partners for Freedom program, which connects cannabis businesses to the nonprofit’s legal intervention, advocacy, and reentry work. Skyworld CEO Alex Anderson — a member of the Tuscarora Nation — has been clear about the brand’s position: cannabis cannot be called legal or just until the industry recycles resources back toward the people harmed by prohibition.
LPP Acting Executive Director Stephanie Shepard cited Skyworld’s approach as a model for how cannabis companies can support criminal justice reform meaningfully — not just symbolically.
As part of the retail activation, Skyworld is inviting New York dispensaries to join LPP’s Roll It Up for Justice program, which adds a donation option to the checkout process so customers can contribute to LPP directly at the register. Customers can also donate by texting FREEDOM to 24365.
National Press for Two BCN Members
The collaboration was announced January 6, 2026, and picked up quickly across three national outlets:
- High Times (January 15, 2026) — covered it as cannabis social equity news, with detail on the Partners for Freedom program structure and the WAR product
- Cash & Color Cannabis (January 6, 2026) — Mehka King’s multicultural cannabis media outlet gave it extended coverage, including Case Study Labs’ creative approach to the packaging
- Cannabis & Tech Today — included in their weekly industry roundup for the week of December 30–January 6
For Buffalo, this is notable. Skyworld and Case Study Labs are both Western New York operations earning national attention on one of the harder conversations in cannabis — what the industry owes the people who bore the cost of prohibition. That story is being told in the pages of High Times, and it started here.
Skyworld Cannabis and Case Study Labs are Premier members of the Buffalo Cannabis Network. To learn more about the Last Prisoner Project or support their work, visit lastprisonerproject.org or text FREEDOM to 24365.
