FROM KING OF POT TO KING OF HEMP
The extraordinary life of a cannabis smuggler who reinvented himself as an industrial hemp entrepreneur. Few people in American cannabis history have traveled a road quite like Bruce Perlowin. From the cannabis underground of the 1970s to the boardrooms of the emerging legal cannabis industry, his life reads like a combination of counterculture adventure, international crime drama, personal reinvention, and entrepreneurial ambition.
Known at different times as the ‘King of Pot’ and the ‘King of Hemp’, Perlowin has experienced both the extraordinary financial rewards and the devastating consequences of operating in an industry that spent decades outside the law. His story includes international cannabis smuggling, a major federal prison sentence, an unconventional job application, medical cannabis entrepreneurship, and an ambitious effort to establish industrial hemp as a legitimate American agricultural commodity. Love him or question his business decisions, Bruce Perlowin is a fascinating character whose life offers a remarkable glimpse into the changing history of cannabis in America.
THE MAKING OF THE KING OF POT
Bruce Perlowin grew up during a period of enormous cultural change. The 1960s were defined by rock music, political protests, psychedelic experimentation, and a generation questioning the rules established by its parents. Like many young people of that era, Perlowin became interested in cannabis and the counterculture surrounding it. What began as relatively small-scale cannabis sales eventually developed into something much larger. Perlowin recognized that cannabis had an enormous market, particularly in California, where demand for cannabis was growing rapidly.
During the 1970s, he became involved in international cannabis smuggling, developing an operation that would eventually attract considerable attention from federal authorities. His organization was no ordinary underground distribution network. According to a 1985 Los Angeles Times investigation, Perlowin's operation involved approximately 90 vessels, hundreds of thousands of pounds of marijuana, and an extensive network of associates. At its height, the organization reportedly employed approximately 200 people.
The operation required transportation, communications, financing, coordination, and an understanding of international supply networks. Perlowin was running a substantial criminal enterprise, not simply selling cannabis to friends. His growing reputation earned him the nickname that would follow him for years: The King of Pot. But operating such a massive organization came with enormous risks.
In March 1983, federal authorities arrested Perlowin in Chicago. He subsequently pleaded guilty to federal offenses involving racketeering, smuggling, tax evasion, currency violations, and related criminal activity. The man who had once controlled a major cannabis-smuggling operation was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. His empire had collapsed, his assets were in jeopardy, and his future looked considerably different from the one he had imagined.
PRISON, EDUCATION, AND AN UNUSUAL SECOND CHANCE
For some people, prison becomes the defining chapter of their lives. For Perlowin, it became an opportunity to prepare for another one. Rather than simply waiting for his sentence to end, he pursued education and studied subjects that would eventually become useful in his business career. According to contemporary newspaper accounts, he earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Columbia College and completed additional coursework in nutrition and international trade. After serving approximately nine years, Perlowin was released in January 1992.
He now faced a difficult problem familiar to many former inmates: finding an employer willing to hire someone with a serious criminal record. His solution was memorable. Instead of trying to hide his past, he turned it into the centerpiece of his resume. The headline read: "Ex-Marijuana Kingpin Needs a Job."
It was certainly not the sort of resume most employment counselors would recommend, but Perlowin believed his history demonstrated something employers might appreciate: he knew how to organize people, manage operations, coordinate logistics, and build a business.
His unconventional approach worked. Rainforest Products hired him as its national sales manager, giving him an opportunity to apply his experience to a legitimate commercial enterprise. It was an important turning point. The former cannabis kingpin was beginning to reinvent himself as a businessman.
During the 1990s, the political environment surrounding cannabis began changing. California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, creating a legal framework for medical cannabis under state law. Other states eventually followed. For people who had spent years involved in cannabis culture, the emerging medical cannabis industry presented an extraordinary opportunity.
Perlowin recognized that the plant which had once made him infamous was becoming the foundation of a legitimate commercial market. In 2003, he became involved in the creation of Medical Marijuana, Inc., seeking to establish a business presence in the developing medical cannabis industry. He also became involved in organizing educational events intended to bring together cannabis entrepreneurs, advocates, and people interested in the emerging market.
His transition was remarkable. Someone who had once been pursued by federal authorities for cannabis smuggling was now participating in the business side of an industry that was beginning to receive political acceptance. However, his business activities were not without controversy. A 2010 investigative report by Salon raised questions about Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s business practices and included criticism from former associates. Those issues are part of his history and deserve acknowledgment. Perlowin's career has included both ambitious entrepreneurial efforts and legitimate questions about business management and corporate accountability. But medical cannabis was not the only opportunity attracting his attention. He was increasingly interested in another side of the cannabis plant: industrial hemp.
DISCOVERING THE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF HEMP
Industrial hemp offered Perlowin something different from the marijuana market. Instead of concentrating on the intoxicating properties of cannabis, hemp represented an opportunity to develop a legitimate agricultural and manufacturing industry. The plant's fibers, seeds, and woody stalks have numerous commercial applications, including textiles, paper, construction materials, food products, animal bedding, and industrial composites. Perlowin saw the possibility of building a business around those applications.
In 2008, he founded Hemp, Inc., with an ambitious vision of developing American industrial hemp processing and manufacturing capabilities. His objective was to help establish the infrastructure needed to connect farmers with manufacturers and develop commercial markets for hemp products. It was a logical next step for someone who understood the cannabis marketplace and had spent years studying business opportunities.
Growing hemp is only one part of developing a successful industry. Farmers need buyers, manufacturers need raw materials, and processing facilities must be available to turn harvested crops into useful products. Perlowin believed that building this infrastructure could help establish hemp as an important American agricultural commodity. His company pursued industrial processing operations, including a substantial facility in North Carolina designed to handle hemp fiber and hurd.
The vision extended into several markets: hemp textiles and clothing; hempcrete and alternative building materials; hemp-based paper products; hemp foods, protein, and seed oils; automotive components and industrial composites; agricultural products and animal bedding.
For Perlowin, hemp represented an opportunity to build something much larger than a conventional cannabis business. He envisioned a domestic industry capable of creating employment, supporting American farmers, and supplying manufacturers with an alternative source of raw materials.
THE 2018 FARM BILL: A MAJOR VICTORY
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill was an important milestone for Perlowin and other industrial hemp advocates. Signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018, the legislation removed federally defined industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and established a framework for regulated hemp production. After decades of restrictions, American farmers finally had a clearer federal pathway to cultivate industrial hemp.
Perlowin welcomed the legislation as an opportunity to develop a new American industry. His enthusiasm reflected his long-standing belief that hemp could become an important economic resource. However, turning that opportunity into a profitable business would prove challenging. Farmers needed reliable markets, manufacturers needed consistent supplies, and the industry needed additional processing infrastructure.
Legalization opened the door, but commercial success required much more than legislation. Still, Perlowin had helped keep the industrial hemp conversation alive during years when few mainstream businesspeople were willing to discuss the crop.
THE MAN BEHIND THE LEGEND
Bruce Perlowin's career has never been short on ambition. He built an enormous illegal cannabis operation, lost his freedom, pursued higher education in prison, found employment after release, and eventually returned to the cannabis world through medical marijuana and industrial hemp businesses.
His story is not without controversy. His criminal history is serious, and his later business ventures have attracted criticism. A balanced account should recognize those facts rather than turn his life into an uncomplicated redemption story.
In December 2020, Hemp, Inc. announced that Perlowin had resigned as its CEO and chairman, while continuing with the company as Chief Visionary Consultant. He remained associated with the hemp industry and continued discussing his experiences in interviews.
In March 2026, he appeared on the Gray Transforms podcast in an episode titled "Smuggler to Entrepreneur with The King of Pot," reflecting on his life, business history, and the evolution of cannabis legalization. The interview offered another opportunity to hear from a man whose personal history spans several generations of the cannabis movement.
There is something uniquely American about the Bruce Perlowin story. It is a story of enormous ambition, spectacular success, personal failure, imprisonment, and reinvention. He came of age during the cannabis counterculture, became one of the most notorious marijuana smugglers of his generation, and eventually attempted to redirect his business experience toward the legal cannabis and industrial hemp industries. His life has unfolded alongside the changing public perception of cannabis itself.
The plant that once represented a criminal enterprise became an emerging medical business opportunity. The agricultural variety that had been caught in marijuana prohibition became the subject of renewed interest from farmers, manufacturers, and investors. Perlowin has occupied an unusual position throughout that transformation. He is not simply a businessman, an activist, or a cannabis celebrity. He is a complicated figure whose experiences offer a window into the extraordinary changes taking place in the cannabis industry.
Whether remembered as the King of Pot or recognized for his involvement in the industrial hemp business, Bruce Perlowin has certainly lived a life unlike most. Perhaps that is what makes his story worth telling: the man who once built his fortune in the underground cannabis trade eventually spent another chapter of his life trying to build a legitimate business around the very plant that had once sent him to prison.
