
A medical marijuana farm will be opened in California by non other than Damian Marley.
The former Claremont Custody Center in Coalinga, California, will be transformed into a marijuana farm by none other than Damian Marley.
The Jamaican reggae artist, and youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley, has partnered with Ocean Grown Extracts, in order to acquire the former California State prison for $4.1 million dollars. The farm will be used for growing medicinal marijuana. It will create approximately 100 jobs and is estimated to bring $1 million dollars a year in tax revenue for the city of Coalinga.
The marijuana farm will supply its products to medical facilities all over the state. It will be able to extract cannabis oil within 60 days from its opening, while the first crop will be harvested in January 2017.
By that time, California, like many other states, will vote on the legality of the plant’s recreational use. While smoking pot for fun is still illegal in California, the state was one of the first to legalize medicinal marijuana. Until now, recreational marijuana use is legal in the states of Alaska, Washington, Colorado and Oregon, and also in the cities of Portland and South Portland of Maine.
The 38-year-old artist has not failed to see the irony or poetic justice that the former penitentiary, where so many people were locked up for the sale or the mere possession of cannabis, will now be turned into a farm for the same plan.
Marley, a self-professed lover of the herb, just life his iconic father, is not new the business of marijuana growing. In Colorado, which has, since early 2015 become a stoner’s paradise, Marley owns another marijuana farm, in partnership with local company TruCannabis. He additionally owns a dispensary in the state, in order to further the use of the plant’s medical properties.
Performing since the age of 13, Damian Marley is one of the most successful Jamaican artists, being the only one to win two Grammy’s in the same night. He rose to fame with his hit single “Welcome to Jamrock” in 2005. The song was named one of the Top 100 songs of the Decade by Rolling Stone magazine. Marley went on to collaborate with hip-hop artist Nas, electronic music producer Skrillex and even legendary rocker, Mick Jagger.
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