Marley Natural Launches Cannabis Brand

Marley Natural, the company owned by the family of Bob Marley, will launch its branded cannabis products on Feb. 6, which would have been the reggae legend’s 71^st birthday.

The company’s cannabis strains will go on sale in three dispensaries in the Los Angeles area, and it will be in “hundreds” of retailers before the end of the year, according to general manager Tahira Rehmatullah.

The 20-employee company is starting with four branded strains: Marley Green, a hybrid; Marley Gold, a sativa; Marley Black, an indica, and Marley Red, a CBD-rich strain.

The first three dispensaries that will have the Marley cannabis are Buds & Roses, Green Goddess, and Los Angeles Patients and Caregivers Group. Rehmatullah said Marley Natural could have launched in many more stores originally, but it started with three to make the launch easier. The three dispensaries were chosen based on their cleanliness and organization, Rehmatullah said.

“Not all dispensaries are like that,” she said.

In coming months, Marley Natural intends to be in rec stores and dispensaries in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, and hopes also to be in Canada and Jamaica in 2017, if legalization proceeds in those countries as expected.

While some marijuana and music enthusiasts will certainly welcome the brand, other observers have criticized the enterprise, which is backed by Privateer Holdings, as a corporate sellout that robs the poor island nation of Jamaica, where Marley is from, of one of its most precious cultural exports.