“Instead a get foolish, you sit down and you can meditate and be someone. Rum teach to you be a drunkard, and herb teach you to be someone.” -Bob Marley
There is no greater name or brand more synonymous with Marijuana than Bob Marley and the family is ready to capitalize. Any time I hear the words “Bob Marley”, I have an automatic response to listen up. I am not a smoker or into reggae just intrigued by the fascination with this branding. Being in the Criminal legal business for over ten years, it’s fascinating to see the attraction to the brand even though most associate it with drug use and criminal inferences. However, over the past several years, the Bob Marley family has become one of the great stories of the American dream. A couple of months ago, I read an article about the son, Rohan Marley. He was running a Jamaican-born coffee business with a clear target market strategy – “Natural” coffee with the Bob Marley name. The product flies off the store shelves with the expected revenue of $10 million this year.
Last week, I heard the Bob Marley family has a weed business. Of course they do!! There is no doubt this will be successful. The Bob Marley name is instantly recognizable and they have always preserved the reputation of being all natural and environmentally conscious. The Marley family has now created Marley Natural, a global cannabis brand with “heirloom Jamaican cannabis strains inspired by those Bob Marley enjoyed.” With over 74 million!! Facebook fans from around the world, it’s clear the brand is recognizable. As more and more states within the United States begin to legalize Marijuana, the privatization of a true cannabis brand is only inevitable. The Bob Marley Cannabis brand is clearly going to be successful in the US as long as the company can figure out the means for legal distribution. The only two states in the US that allow for recreational use of cannabis are Colorado and Washington so they will be the main focus of the brand in the beginning. However, there are 23 states including the District of Columbia and Guam that allow for medical marijuana and cannabis programs. The laws across the US are changing rapidly and it appears that the Marley family is ready to capitalize.
The Marley brand owns a large cannabis grow facility in Canada, but they face major hurdles with getting the product to the end user. First, Cannabis is still illegal by the Federal laws of the United States, so they cannot transport the cannabis from Canada into the United States. Further, it’s illegal to transport the cannabis from state to state. However, as the laws continue to change, these regulations will slowly begin to allow for major product distribution within the industry. So even though the industry as a whole is young and developing, its only a matter of time until we see television commercials with old photos of Bob smoking a finger sized joint, listening to some reggae and the new logo of “Marley Natural”.
Andrew Moses
Andrew has been practicing criminal law his entire career. After graduating from law school he began working as an Assistant State Attorney prosecuting cases in Orange and Osceola Counties. During his time as an Assistant State Attorney, Andrew handled all types of cases ranging from misdemeanors to such serious felonies as drug trafficking and armed robbery. His experience as a prosecutor helped him gain perspective of the criminal justice system and how the government established its cases.
Rate this Post
Loading...