Damian Marley, Bob Marley's youngest son, and business partner Ocean Grown Extracts have turned a former California prison into a cannabis grow space where the plants will be cultivated for medical purposes and be distributed to state dispensaries.
The economic benefits this measure brings to the town of Central Valley is simply to re-balance the status. The purchase of the Claremont Custody Center in Coalinga, California was worth $4.1 million, which completely erased the $3.3 million debt of the town. Additionally, the business will generate approximately 100 jobs, which — in the economic context of the area — also represents a salvation.
"Cannabis is something that's around Damian every day with friends, family and with his Rastafarian faith. We've watched people who have sacrificed their lives for it," said Dan Dalton, Damian Marley's long time manager. "That injustice has motivated us to be advocates as well as knowing that there are healing properties in cannabis."
The singer further declared that he will introduce Speak Life, a proprietary strain of cannabis that he worked on with Ocean Grown. The plant is altered genetically by a Ph.D. chemist, but cultivation of the special breed is based on the company's OG Kush. Made of 70 percent indica and 30 percent sativa, the plant is carefully taken care of, from hand trimming to watering.
"When they introduced this strain of OG I really loved it and loved its consistency," said Damian.
Damian and his partners will have the exceptional success with their company in the case that California legalizes weed consumption for recreational use in adults. The idea, Proposition 64, would propel their business right away. According to the polls, it's most likely that the bill will pass .
Other states of the U.S. have recently started considering the liberalization of recreational or medical consumption of marijuana, among which: Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada for recreational use; and Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota for medical use — a consumption that is already legal in 25 of the U.S. states.
The prison of Coalinga, California was closed in 2011. Its appearance, though, suggests that it has just been closed yesterday. Everything is in its place, from the bed mattresses to the steel toiled bowls and old shoes of the inmates, as explained by the Guardian.
Damian Marley's partner, Casey Dalton, co-owner of Ocean Grown Extracts, gave the publication a tour of the area, during which she explained that the old dining room will be used as a cannabis oil refinement space and the dorm halls will be turned into plant cultivation centers.
