The Paper Boy
It’s not often that a spark of interest is literally a spark. But that’s how it all started for Josh Kesselman, the energetic, shaggy-haired force behind RAW.
“When I was a kid, I remember my dad used to do this magic trick with his rolling paper. He had this old Spanish brand called Marfil Arroz. He’d light it on fire, throw it up in the air, and it would disappear—like nothing would come down no ash or anything. It was the only magic trick he knew, but I was amazed. I remember that feeling of wonderment, ‘Wow! Magic is real!’ It was the first time I had that feeling, and it really stuck with me.”
The experience lodged deep inside him. Years later, when his high school clique would get high and discuss various strains, effects, and smells, Kesselman wanted to talk about rolling papers.
“I became a collector. I was just enamored with rolling papers,” he says. “Any chance I got, if I saw a pack I didn’t have in my collection, I would buy it immediately. I was studying them and learning all about them, learning the history, where they came from.”
Raw Beginnings
In his early 20s, Kesselman sold nearly everything he owned to open Knuckleheads, a tiny smoke shop in Gainesville, Florida. Rent ran around $450 per month.
By mid-’90’s standards, it was a success. Kesselman made enough to move out of his friend’s storage shed. He met interesting people. And, through the early Internet, found like-minded souls—other rolling paper fanatics—across the ocean. Soon, he began trading with them and began selling exotic European-made papers in his store.
I became a collector. I was just enamored with rolling papers, Any chance I got, if I saw a pack I didn’t have in my collection, I would buy it immediately. I was studying them, and learning all about them, learning the history, where they came from.”
He ran the business like a mission, believing it work could improve lives, create joy, and make the world better. He even had a Golden Rule: If someone asked about a product he didn’t stock, he’d find it and have it in the shop within 2 weeks.
“One day in 1993, a customer asked me to carry a certain brand of ‘natural’ cigarettes. It wasn’t easy to find back then, but I managed to get it,” Kesselman says. “The customer was going on and on about how natural and incredible they were, so I was expecting something amazing…but when he offered me one, I was disappointed. It looked like just a regular cigarette wrapped in the same bleached white chalk-filled paper as all the others. That’s when I realized that no one had ever made the type of paper I had in mind: an unbleached, natural rolling paper. That was the beginning of Raw.”
Makin’ That Paper
His idea was simple: Create a rolling paper without all the bleachy chemicals and unpleasant effects. But the execution proved to be more complex than he expected.
Many mills laughed at Kesselman right out of the factory. He spent years making pitches and developing other rolling paper brands that never quite lived up to his ideals.
Finally, in the mid 2000’s, after extreme perseverance a small mill agreed to make the base sheet for RAW and a Spanish company agreed to produce a small run of booklets of Kesselman’s vegan, unbleached rolling papers. The name inspired by a Big Daddy Kane song and proudly boasting its eco-friendly bona fides, RAW fully launched in 2005 to…very little fanfare.
“It wasn’t an instant success, but it gained immediate respect in the market,” Kesselman recalled. “The people who tried it really liked it. And they shared it with their friends in sesh circles, and it slowly caught on that way.”
Fast forward a dozen years, and RAW was everywhere. Wiz Khalifa sang about it. 2 Chainz reaches for a pack as soon as he wakes up. Both High Times and Esquire have listed the brand on their Best of All Times lists. Its paper package design is what springs to mind whenever someone mentions rolling papers.
As RAW carved its own niche in the market, Kesselman gained license to bring his other ideas to fruition.
Beyond the Roll
These days, RAW is a full-scale stoner laboratory. With the ethics of Thunberg, the vision of Edison, and the drive of young Steve Jobs, Kesselman oversees a team of inventors who follow his goal of improving the lives of smokers through better products.
“I love making new things. It goes back to my days in those sesh circles with friends, where someone always brought something cool. I wanted to create things that made people happy, that enhanced their experience,” he says. “That’s why I keep creating. I’ve made all sorts of devices, contraptions, and even lighters that are designed specifically for smokers. It’s about constant innovation. I’m always learning, improving, and making things better.”
I love making new things. It goes back to my days in those sesh circles with friends, where someone always brought something cool. I wanted to create things that made people happy, that enhanced their experience
RAW cranks out the usual fare—rolling machines, pre-rolls, tips—but it also produces some of the most brilliant stoner technology on the planet. There’s a Solar Light that uses two mirrors to focus sunlight toward the tip of a joint; an adjustable windscreen to help you light up in the wind; and the RAW Perspector, which combines a white AND UV light and a magnifying glass with a rolling tool holder to help with the rolling process, just to name a few.
And if inventions embody something of their creators, Kesselman’s products share his commitment. While the flagship papers are minimally processed, unbleached, vegan, and made to prevent uneven burns, the other contraptions are just as dedicated to improving the lives and everyday experiences of cannabis consumers.
“I recently made a stoner umbrella. It’s a badass double layered metallic sun and rain umbrella, but the handle is also a joint holder with an integrated mouthpiece so that you can smoke out in the rain,” Kesselman says. “We were so excited, but when I was using mine the other day, I dropped it, and the mouthpiece broke. It crushed me because I had worked on it for years. Now, we’re working on a rubber mouthpiece that won’t break. When it’s ready, I’ll make sure everyone who bought the old version gets the updated mouthpiece. It’s all about making things better and uplifting people with what we create.”
He explains the umbrella idea, and then—Poof!—it’s gone. Kesselman’s talking about another idea, something that hasn’t come out yet. All that’s left behind is the feeling from that momentary flash. No ash or anything.
