Did Twitch ban top streamer Kai Cenat for dozing off after weed edibles?

The Amazon-owned live streaming platform just banned one of its most popular broadcasters. His presumed crime: Vibing out on an edible.

The war on weed across social media platforms took another absurd turn on Thursday when popular live-streaming platform Twitch banned one of its most subscribed streamers, Kai Cenat, for seemingly breaking its community guidelines. Twitch bans are usually temporary, but some are permanent, and even short bans can have a huge impact on the streamer’s account.

The company has not officially confirmed the reason for Cenat’s suspension, but fans and Cenat himself believe a January 24 stream of Cenat trying his first THC-infused edible triggered the ban. This is kind of a big deal: The Bronx native became Twitch’s breakout star of 2022, garnering millions of views and hosting celebrity appearances from stars like Lil Baby and Ice Spice— all from the comfort of his home.

Twitch’s policy clearly states that the “dangerous consumption of alcohol or other substances that lead to being incapacitated” is forbidden under the platform’s “self-destructive behavior” protocols. Here are some clips of Cenat’s edible adventure, which included ordering too many snacks and falling asleep on camera.

We need to unpack a few things.

First, we object to the idea that getting slumped on an edible in the safety of your own home is self-destructive. For many consumers, drifting into a luxurious deep (and very safe) sleep is the point of taking an edible.

Second, can somebody please connect my guy with an experienced budtender? At the very least, Cenat could use some tips from Leafly’s how-to-dose-edibles guide. How many times do we have to say it: Start low, go slow. Try a gummy. Don’t eat the whole bag.

In a since-deleted Tuesday tweet, Cenat did announce that he would be trying his first edible on an upcoming stream. You can see for yourself how that turned out. Two days later, Cenat addressed the ban in a January 26 tweet, showing little concern about how the penalty would impact his quest to gain more subscribers. The ban postponed a “subathon” Cenat had planned, where streamers try to gain new subscribers over the course of marathon-long streaming sessions.

For now, it’s unclear how long Cenat’s ban will last, but Leafly will continue to update this story with the latest.

Although cannabis is now medically legal in most states and recreationally legal in 21 states, social media platforms have shifting, ambiguous policies regarding the substance. For example, Facebook and Instagram often suspend the accounts of legal companies. TikTok tightly restricts cannabis content. Meanwhile, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn have taken steps to provide safe methods for the cannabis community and industry to interact and grow.