Snapchat rolled out a new Bob Marley-inspired filter Wednesday in honor of 4/20 (aka National Weed Day) that gives snapchatters both dreadlocks and a noticeably darker skin tone, and people are pissed.

The filter allows users to warp their faces into a cartoonish interpretation of the late singer that many argue is tantamount to digital blackface.

Snapchat’s half-baked 420 nod is a Bob Marley blackface filter?! Dude was Jamaican! Did waaaay more than smoke weed. pic.twitter.com/t6tazxnMxT

— Brian Ries (@moneyries) April 20, 2016

Things nobody looks good in: peplum, propeller hats, Bob Marley’s face

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) April 20, 2016

Well, there’s a Bob Marley @Snapchat filter for today. (Just in case you didn’t want the effort of buying paint to do blackface.)

— Tré Pina (@TreLingual) April 20, 2016

However, some people took more offense to the timing of the filter’s release than to the actual filter itself. Snapchat is in the habit of creating holiday themed filters and banners for its users. Since April 20’s date is synonymous with “weed culture,” rolling out Marley’s image effectively claimed him as the poster boy for marijuana.

I take more issue with the Bob Marley filter being used for 4/20 than I do with it being “blackface”…

— Pastor Courvoisier (@PLAIDvillain) April 20, 2016

This bob Marley filter for 420??

Bob Marley the symbol of weed orrrr a symbol of love & good music?

I’m confused.

— Mrs. King (@_zolarmoon) April 20, 2016

The anger didn’t stop there. Snapchatters also took offense with Kylie Jenner’s use of the filter. Jenner drew criticism after playing around with the filter in a pair of videos seen below in which she says, “420. Yaaas, bitch,” Jenner exclaims. “Yaaas.”

In retrospect, Jenner’s choice seems more haphazard than intentional, but still ill-conceived nonetheless. In an ironic twist, Jenner’s reality show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” famously covered the topic of blackface in an episode that chronicled her older sister Kim’s reaction to being approached by a fan offensively pretending to be Kanye.

Snapchat later revealed in a statement Wednesday that the filter was in fact created with the Bob Marley estate’s blessing. The statement read,

The lens we launched today was created in partnership with the Bob Marley Estate, and gives people a new way to share their appreciation for Bob Marley and his music. Millions of Snapchatters have enjoyed Bob Marley’s music, and we respect his life and achievements.

Even if Marley’s filter was sanctioned by his estate, that doesn’t give the public any less of a right to critique the image and hold Snapchat accountable for its cultural appropriation.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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There’s a hot, new startup in town and it’s solving a problem that has long gone unanswered–how to get medical marijuana delivered to you. It’s called Eaze and it’s being promoted as Uber for weed. As more and more states legalize marijuana, and many more allow the substance to be used for medicinal purposes, the commercial industry is going to continue booming. Eaze wants a piece of that–and from the looks of it, so do Eaze’s many investors.

The San Francisco-based company has already gotten quite a bit of funding. In its series A funding round–essentially its first big push for venture capital money–it received a very impressive grand total of $10 million. One of the more prominent investors is Casa Verde Capital. For those of you for whom that doesn’t ring a bell, that’s the name of the venture capital fund run by Snoop Dogg. Although this was Eaze’s first major funding push, it also received $1.5 million at the beginning of last year to get started.

Calling Eaze the Uber of weed, or at least medical marijuana, seems pretty much spot on. Users can order the drug with the click of a button, and Eaze promises a ten minute or less turn-around time. The company connects already-existing dispensaries with customers, and has a fleet of drivers ready to transport the orders. Eaze also allows customers to look through what each dispensary offers, including lab results, in order to find a good match between customer and product.

The business certainly has some kinks to work out, but they seem to be relatively minor. TechCrunch’s Ryan Lawler tried it out over the weekend and pointed out that right now it only accepts cash, which can be viewed as inconvenience for anyone who operates mostly in plastic.

Eaze isn’t the only business trying to capitalize on medical marijuana, however. There are plenty of others that have similar ideas and business plans. Some of the more well known include Nestdrop, Meadow, Grassp, Dave, and Canary, each of which have slightly different business models, platforms, and markets.

Moreover, that’s only considering the weed delivery industry. Other pot-based startups have already begun to try to break off chunks of what will inevitably end up being a gigantic market. For example, Privateer Holdings, based in Seattle, recently raised $75 million in funding for its many endeavors in the marijuana market. Privateer Holdings already has a hold on the Canadian medical marijuana market, and plans on “branding” marijuana to sell in the United States. One of those brands will be “Marley Natural“–based on the late Bob Marley. The business will involve his family and estate.

Now that the tide really does seem to be turning both for medical and recreational weed, it seems like there’s no good reason for funders not to back some of these projects. After all, legal marijuana has been named the fastest growing industry in the United States. A company like Eaze has the potential to become massively profitable, given the convenience of having items delivered to your door, as well as its ability to prevent any sort of “high” driving. Snoop Dogg’s investment is probably a pretty good one, and with that kind of backing, we should expect to see Eaze expand with this growing market.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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