RAW Founder Celebrates $8.7M Legal Victory In A Very Peculiar Way: ‘We Rolled It Up And Smoked The Lawsuit, Literally’

Josh Kesselman, founder of RAW and creator of its iconic rolling papers, celebrated an $8.7 million legal victory against counterfeiters in the most fitting way possible: by printing the court verdict on rolling paper and rolling a giant joint.

“This was the best way to celebrate our $8.7 million victory,” Kesselman told Benzinga. “We rolled it up and smoked the lawsuit, literally.”

The celebration followed a decisive ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on Dec. 17, 2024. The court awarded BBK Tobacco & Foods, which distributes RAW under its HBI International brand, more than $3 million in disgorged profits from the defendants and an additional $5.6 million in statutory damages for copyright infringements related to RAW’s packaging designs.