Pakamai
Mission Statement
The purpose for our company is to reverse all the common misconceptions and stigmas associated with the cannabis culture as well as its medicinal use. We seek out partnerships with like minded individuals to help take up this fight and right this ship of public perception towards a bright and promising future for our islands. We believe this new market can grow to be a vital pillar in our societies economy, helping to address many areas where we fall short. We hope to see revenues that are taxed legally be directed towards key areas, such as our keiki’s education systems, towards housing and infrastructure to tackle the homeless problem we see everyday around our islands, and towards programs that target addiction, whether it be street drugs or pharmaceuticals.
The first step in tackling this perception problem starts with our speech. I can’t overstate how important and powerful the words we use, coupled with the intent and meaning behind them can be in this march towards legitimacy. I was born and raised in these islands, I heard cannabis be referred to by many names, but the most common name being “pakalolo”. Which translates roughly to the plant that makes you crazy, or crazy/stupid tobacco. It’s use associated with underachieving, inability to live up to goals or potentials, unproductive members of society and all sorts of unfavorable characteristics and traits. The word “pakalolo” itself is a loaded word with the negative connotation “lolo” placed conveniently right at the end of it. “Lolo” of course means stupid or crazy in Hawaiian, which is the exact opposite of what we need.
In comes Akamai. Akamai translates to smart or intelligent. Which in and of itself is a more favorable association. I chose to blend “paka”, for familiarity not so much its meaning, and Akamai, solely for its meaning. The birth of Pakamai came from this train of thought. To give people a word that more accurately describes the range and diversity of the cannabis culture.
Within said culture, you can find truly passionate, highly motivated, hard working, driven and intelligent individuals. Of those individuals, some are lawyers, doctors, business owners, tech wizards, etcetera.
Second step is education. We here at Pakamai believe it is essential to our goals to network and partner with other organizations to put together events with the goal of education for the public at the top of the priorities list. Providing all the latest information associated with cannabis from the medical field, it’s efficacy as a smart alternative for certain ailments, its impact on other states economies and what that could mean to ours, as well as workshops to provide a space where the community can come to have conversations on cannabis policy and etiquette.
Third. It comes down to marketing and branding. With new markets, come new brands, new ideas. A new way of doing things. For too long cannabis has been marketed in a way that is counter to our goals of getting the widest range of acceptance between all generation gaps.
Pakamai seeks to market to all age groups and demographics seeking to highlight intelligence, productivity, active life styles, and overall positive life goals. We look to highlight individuals in our communities who exemplify these traits and qualities.
Last but not least, networking. We want to know you. We want to work with you to help push our culture forward. If you have any ideas and your looking for a partner, we would love to do all we can on our end to help, whether it be just consulting, or boots on the ground work. We are here, we are open, and we are ready.
