There’s water blasting through cracks in the dam of cannabis prohibition at an unprecedented level, with multiple states establishing recreational legalization laws and dozens establishing medicinal marijuana regulations. Inevitably, the corporate invasion has begun in the freshly fertile fields of cannabis capitalism, but don’t expect big business to honor stoner sanctity.
As NBC reports, investors have raised something like $50 million to establish the world’s first legal cannabis brand: Marley Natural.
The family of late legend Bob Marley family and a Seattle-based private equity firm announced the creation of Marley Natural, “a premium cannabis brand rooted in the life and legacy” of one of marijuana’s most devoted sons. The goal is to establish a respectable distribution brand in a field of ridiculously juvenile brands including “Alaskan Thunderfuck” and “Kush Kandy”.
The line will include THC-infused creams, a variety of accessories, edibles and strains of “heirloom Jamaican cannabis,” inspired by the weed that Marley enjoyed. The only quality catch? Weed absolutely sucked when Marley was alive, and only through the past 1-2 decades of advanced cultivation have we seen the evolution of cannabis potency that stoners enjoy today. So they’ll have to step up the science for a truly “premium cannabis brand” that they intend to dominate the market with. We’re talking the kind of bud that’ll have Snoop Dogg looking Chinese and/or impersonating a white dude.
Bob Marley rolling a joint of some pitiful dirt weed. Seriously, look at that shit.
The corporate goal of Marley Natural is to present a cleanly-packaged modern consumer product, and marketed with the help of the same agency that branded New Balance and Starbucks Coffee.
“This is what the end of prohibition looks like,” said Brendan Kennedy, the CEO of Privateer Holdings, which owns Marley Natural. “Bob Marley started to push for legalization more than 50 years ago. We’re going to help him finish it.”
The often-shady establishments that exist in the legal grey zone of medicinal marijuana and decriminalization could do with a system of regulatory checks and balances, but is Bob Marley truly the legacy we want to be fucking with for corporate weed-branding? While Marley’s image and music is synonymous with toking up – to the point where radio stations such as San Diego’s 91X features a daily “Mandatory Marley” song at 4:20pm – it’s easy to imagine the late singer’s likeness being misappropriated by Big Business for the purpose of exploiting the stoner community.
With a little luck, legislative momentum and a lot of planning, we’ll see some premium Marley Natural products on the national market in the near future. Here’s hoping they respect the legacy of a man whose music, image and very name have become synonymous with the uplifting spirit of cannabis enjoyment. Learn more at the Marley Natural official site.
