Bob Marley inspired Marley Natural opened in New York last week amid concerns that the branding of the product could have negative connotations in Jamaica.

The brand last week had its first product launch of a line of weed strains branded in the name of late reggae icon Bob Marley.

The four types of cannabis have first been made available in some California dispensaries, before expanding to the four other US states where marijuana has been decriminalized.

The company has also launched a line of natural beauty products and smoking accessories that will be sold nationwide.

According to the author of ‘An Encyclopedia on Reggae’, Mike Alleyne, given Marley’s anti-capitalist, anti-establishment identity, having a company that evokes the name of centuries-old pirates, and a very negative tradition of imperialist assault, sends a lot of the wrong messages.

Privateer Holdings, a Seattle-based private equity firm that invests in marijuana businesses, has secured a 30-year licensing deal with the Marley family to develop weed strains and hemp-based products.

It also emerged as a prominent player in the growing marijuana industry after closing a $75 million funding round last year.

However, Alleyne says “it’s inevitable that a marijuana brand would seek to profit off the Marley legacy, noting that it’s already been used to promote coffee, ice cream, and headphones. Forbes ranked the singer fourth on its list of highest-earning dead celebrities in 2015.”

He says “Privateer’s name and pirate ship logo — designed by the same firm behind the Starbucks logo — may carry negative connotations in Jamaica, which was under British rule for more than 300 years”.

There is also concern that the brand, which was originally created in 2014, has appropriated Rastafarian culture without direct benefit to Jamaica.

Director of Jamaica’s Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce, Delano Seiveright, says Marley Natural could help raise broader awareness around cannabis reform, though many are still skeptical of its aims.

He says people remain concerned that it is exploitative in nature with the focus on making money, and not enough about helping the people of Jamaica and the Rastafari.

Marley Natural now joins a growing field of celebrity-branded marijuana products, as investors look to capitalize on a burgeoning market.

Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Wiz Khalifa have all started or lent their names to various weed-related ventures.