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Higher Heights - Raging Fyah to launch own strain of marijuana

Published:Tuesday | July 11, 2017 | 12:00 AMCurtis Campbell
Raging Fyah
In this Aug. 29, 2013, file photo, farmer Breezy shows off the distinctive leaves of a marijuana plant during a tour of his plantation in Jamaica's central mountain town of Nine Mile.
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Grammy-nominated reggae band, Raging Fyah, has eyes on the potentially lucrative marijuana industry and are gearing up to officially launch its own strain of marijuana called the Raging Fyah Everlasting Kush, inspired by their recent Grammy-nominated album.

The business will be located in Fort Collins, Colorado, and lead singer of the band, Kumar, told The Gleaner, that Jamaica is already lagging behind in the marijuana industry.

"It has been something I wanted to do personally, and the opportunity presented itself and we grasped it ... Jamaica is steps behind states like California, Colorado, Seattle, Florida and few other spots in the US, which allows legal use medically and recreationally. It's also a multi million-dollar industry, and lots of job opportunities are available. So as a band, we saw the benefits, and it's a great fit given the music we play," he said.

The Jamaican Government recently stated that it was taking steps to ban certain marijuana products. However, Kumar wants the local policymakers to get with the times.

"My wish is to see Jamaica get active towards legal marijuana, not just for the upper class, but for the Rastafarian and simple farmer who has been squeezed from the possibilities of seeing a future or revenue from the changing laws and legislation surrounding marijuana," he said.

 

Partnership

 

The band partnered with US, based company, Elite Organics, for the business venture. Robin Shaffer from the company, told The Gleaner, that the product will be organic.

"Elite Organics is as organic as it gets. We grow small batches in the dirt, we don't use chemicals... we hand-trim.

Besides Everlasting Kush, we own one other strain. However Elite Organics is currently in the midst of a major expansion. We are tripling our warehouse size, at which point we will be able to offer more products made with Raging Fyah's Everlasting Kush. That is also when our seed production and our breeding programme will begin. We also carry all of the products that are associated with both the medical marijuana industry and the recreational marijuana industry," Shaffer said.

Raging Fyah's Everlasting Kush, is already available on shelves at Elite Organics in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Raging Fyah's weed will also take the shape of other products like oils, vape cartridges, disposable cartridges, edibles, patches, creams, hybrid seeds among other things. On the musical side, the band has been steadily touring overseas and has developed a strong following globally due to its intimate performances and collaboration with international groups like UB40. The band also got their first Grammy nod last year.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com