Bob Marley's Heirs To Launch Cannabis Brand

The family of late reggae star Bob Marley has reached a deal to create a global marijuana brand.

Seattle-based Privateer Holdings announced on Tuesday its plans to launch Marley Natural by late 2015.

The firm plans to sell cannabis strains along with weed-infused products, including lotions and accessories.

In July, Washington became the second state in the US behind Colorado to allow the legal sale of marijuana for recreational use.

Privateer Holdings said its mission is "to champion Bob's voice and his insight to help people realise the positive potential of cannabis of the mind, body and spirit".

It added: "Along the way, we want to help undo the suffering and injustice of cannabis prohibition around the world."

In a release on the firm's website, Marley's widow, Rita Marley, said: "My husband believed 'the herb' was a natural and positive part of life and he felt it was important to the world.

"He looked forward to this day."

Marley's daughter, Cedella Marley, said Marley Natural is an "authentic way" to honour her father's legacy by "adding his voice to the conversation about cannabis and helping end the social harms caused by prohibition".

The use of the musician's name, however, has drawn at least some criticism from his native Jamaica.

Maxine Stowe of the Rastafari Millennium Council argued that Marley "was the least of the Wailers around the issue of ganja legalisation".

Marley founded Bob Marley and the Wailers alongside Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in the early 1960s.

Bob Marley died from cancer in 1981 at age 36.