Celebrities launch pot brands as California legalizes drug

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Country singer Willie Nelson, the children of the late reggae icon Bob Marley and comedian Whoopi Goldberg are just a few of the growing number of celebrities publicly jumping into the marijuana industry and eyeing the California pot market, which is expected to explode after voters legalized the recreational use of weed.

Analysts say brands already established in legal medical marijuana dispensaries — including celebrities who partner with approved California growers — will have a leg up when the first licenses are issued.

Bob Marley's youngest son, Damian Marley, runs a competing operation, Stony Hill, and recently joined with another weed company to buy a vacant 77,000-square-foot prison for $4.1 million in Coalinga, in California's Central Valley.

In California, the new marijuana law calls for nearly 20 types of licenses, including permits for farmers; delivery services that will take pot to a buyer's front door; testing labs; distributors; and dispensary operators at the retail level.

[...] because the drug is still illegal under federal law, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office won't issue trademarks to protect marijuana brands.

Hezekiah Allen, head of the California Growers Association, a marijuana farmers' trade group, said California has a mature marijuana marketplace in which consumers expect high-quality pot and have more than price and quality in mind when shopping.