Black History Month is a good time for the cannabis world to look at who paid the price for prohibition. These two-tone strawberry lemonade cookies, made from cake mix and cannabutter, give adults 21 and older a bright, easy bake to share while you talk about it.
Why Black History Month matters in cannabis
Federal prohibition traces back to the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. Its chief promoter, Federal Bureau of Narcotics head Harry Anslinger, spread racist and false claims about the drug, though historians still debate how much race drove the law itself. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act grouped marijuana with heroin and LSD in Schedule I.
The enforcement record is clearer. When the ACLU studied FBI arrest data from 2010 to 2018, it found that in 2018, Black Americans were arrested for marijuana possession at 3.64 times the rate of white Americans. Yet the two groups use marijuana about equally. Nationwide, 2018 alone brought almost 700,000 marijuana arrests. Our feature on Black History Month and cannabis goes deeper.
Michigan today: equity and old records
Michigan's adult-use law came by ballot in 2018 and has applied since December 6 of that year. Legal sales raised two equity questions: who gets to own and work in the industry, and what happens to people with old marijuana records. Our guides to cannabis social equity and clearing an old marijuana record in Michigan explain where each stands as of October 2026.
How you can take part
- Learn the history. Read beyond February, starting with the people who were arrested and the people who pushed for change.
- Shop Black-owned businesses. Look for Black-owned bakeries, restaurants and shops in your community, all year.
- Support local organizations. Find groups working on record clearing, reentry and reform, and ask how you can help; our roundup of advocacy organizations is a place to start.
Dosing: work out mg per cookie first
Divide the THC in the cannabutter you'll use by the number of cookies. This recipe makes about 32 cookies with 2/3 cup of butter in total. Say your cannabutter works out to 39 to 45 mg per tablespoon at most, as in the worked example from our cannabutter recipe. One tablespoon in each dough then adds 78 to 90 mg, or roughly 2.4 to 2.8 mg per cookie; use plain butter for the rest. Count the cookies you actually bake and redo the math, since fewer cookies means more THC in each. An edible may not show its effects for 2 hours, and they can run 4 to 12 hours, so have one cookie and be patient. Our THC dosage guide explains starting amounts.
What you need for strawberry lemonade cookies
- 1 box (13 to 15 ounces) each of strawberry and lemon cake mix
- 4 large eggs, 2 per dough
- 2/3 cup melted butter in total, part cannabutter and the rest plain
- 2 tablespoons flour, 1 per dough, to help the soft dough hold its shape
- Optional glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar whisked with 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
How to bake two-tone cookies
Mix each dough in its own bowl, with half the cannabutter in each, until no streaks remain. Chill the doughs for 15 minutes if they're sticky. Press a tablespoon of each together into one ball and bake 2 inches apart at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them while the centers still look soft; they firm up as they cool. Drizzle on the glaze once they're completely cool.
Storage and labeling
Kept in an airtight tin at room temperature, the cookies last up to about a week. Write "contains THC," the mg per cookie and the bake date on the tin, and store it high up, apart from everyday snacks and away from kids and pets. Michigan lets adults 21 and older give up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis to other adults 21 and older, as long as nothing is received in return and the gift isn't advertised. So these cookies are for sharing, not selling. If a child eats one, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, or 911 in an emergency; if a pet does, call your veterinarian or an animal poison control center.
