RAW is a rolling-paper and smoking-accessories brand sold in the United States by BBK Tobacco & Foods, LLP, trading as HBI International. Josh Kesselman founded and owns the business. The brand is best known for unbleached, translucent brown rolling papers and pre-rolled cones. It is an accessories company rather than a cannabis grower or retailer, and it sells no cannabis.
Founder and origin
Josh Kesselman built HBI International around the RAW name and developed much of its product range, including its rolling-paper cones. Federal court records place HBI's distribution of RAW papers in the United States from 2009. The company sources RAW-branded paper booklets from Iberpapel, a Spanish manufacturer that buys paper from mills and packages the booklets, rather than running a paper mill itself.
Papers, cones and rolling systems
Beyond paper booklets, RAW sells pre-rolled cones, filter tips, rolling trays, storage, rolling devices, boards and apparel. HBI distributes to smoke shops, convenience stores, grocery stores, liquor stores and regional distributors, as well as chains including Sam's Club and Costco. That breadth is why the brand turns up across accessory, convenience and cannabis-adjacent retail even though it sells no cannabis itself.
Culture and events
RAW grew through smoke-shop distribution, cannabis culture and founder-led social media, and its identity now extends to the World Rolling Championship, a competitive rolling event the brand runs. The official site points buyers to recommended retailers rather than selling papers directly in every market.
RAW Giving
RAW Giving is the company's charitable program, documented separately from the commercial catalog. The brand states the program has helped save thousands of lives through its projects.
Litigation
RAW's history includes extended litigation with Republic Brands. A federal jury found HBI liable under Illinois law while rejecting the federal false-advertising claims, and the court entered a permanent nationwide injunction. The injunction bars HBI from marketing RAW papers as organic hemp, as the world's first organic hemp rolling papers, as made with wind power, as unrefined natural hemp, as containing Natural Hemp Gum, as produced in Alcoy, Spain, or as funding RAW Foundation charitable donations, and it requires the company to verify factual advertising statements or frame them as opinion. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, awarding no monetary damages in that decision.