Would Bob Marley eventually became a ganja farmer in Jamaica if he was still alive?
Bob Marley‘s legacy continues to lives on through his music, which is just as impactful as it was in the 1960s to 1970s when the entertainer toured the world spreading peace, unity, and love. Throughout his travels to Africa, Europe, and the Americas, Bob imparted the teachings of his Rastafari faith to his fans. These teachings included respecting the powerful herb marijuana [Cannabis indica].
Bob’s eldest child Cedella Marley recently spoke with Daily Mail, where she opened up about the song he dedicated for her as well as what sort of ‘trouble’ the Rebel Music singer would be getting into, as it relates to one of his first loves, marijuana. The 54-year-old daughter of Bob and widow Rita Marley shared that the 1967 song “Nice Time” was written for her. The song has served as a bridge over troubled waters whenever she feels down, the mother of Skip Marley recalled.
Marley’s dedication to the things and people he loved was oftentimes undeniable. Music, football, family, and his herbs seemed pretty high up on his list. “Herb is the healing of the nation, alcohol is the destruction,” Marley previously said.
“Herb make you look upon yourself and—instead a-you want to work for The Man, you want fi be one of the man, too. Not in the sense of how him is, but in the sense of, why should you have to bow to these things?” Marley asked while referencing the power of marijuana.
Cedella is adamant that her dad’s love of the herb would see him starting his own ganja farm.
“He would be getting up to all sorts of trouble. He’d be a ganja farmer,” she recently explained.
“I mean, I’m just thinking especially in the UK. Nobody’s farming the herb. It’s the healing of a nation and, since he spent so much time here, I don’t know where he got it but I would like to make it legal. I should start a movement.”
While speaking to Huffington Post some years ago, Cedella said, “Creative inspiration was everything for my father — it was like breathing or life to him. Every time he smoked, he was inspired and an open mind was the open door for his creative inspiration. He thought the herb was actually a gift.”
In 1981, Bob passed away at the very young age of 36 after cancer spread from his toe to his brain. Sadly, the entertainer did not live to see his sons fulfilling a legacy that he may have just been a part of if he was still alive.
Damian Marley, the youngest son of the late reggae icon, was only 2 when his father passed away. Nonetheless, the youngest Marley siblings, much like his other 11 siblings, achieved high levels of success. Aside from his music career, Damian has also put his entrepreneurial skills on display with Ocean Grown Extracts, a company that started a cannabis farm on the grounds of an old prison in Coalinga, California.
Over the past decade, arguments geared towards the legalization and decriminalizing marijuana have picked up steam. American states such as California, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, among others, have already altered legislation to make the medicinal and recreational use of the ganja legal. The island of Jamaica has also moved to decriminalize small doses of the herb.
The “Medication” singer shared that starting a ‘weed’ farm in prison was not something that was planned. However, the venture has proved to be the right one in more ways than one. The opening of the farm has provided hundreds of jobs to California locals, more funding for the community as well as sparked the right conversations about the actual medicinal properties of the herb.
“When you look at all of the work we’re doing, it’s such a beautiful picture. Just the image of us growing herb in a prison speaks volumes. That speaks volumes by itself, let alone the fact that we are so involved with helping people get out of prison, the Evidence brand and what it represents, and everything that we will get out of that stuff… You couldn’t ask for a better setup; you couldn’t ask for a stronger statement,” Damian said to Forbes about his company’s partnership with a non-profit organization to help free people who have been convicted due to cannabis possession.
“At the end of the day, it’s a natural plant; it’s God-given. It can save lives,” Damian Marley said. “My father used to smoke herb, obviously. My brothers and sisters smoke herb. And just the people around me… Nowadays it’s a big part of my life, of my day-to-day routine.”
