Ontario pot producer Tweed strikes business deal with Snoop Dogg

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Marijuana producer Tweed is pairing up with weed-smoking, gin-and-juice sipping Snoop Dogg in a deal that will grant the Ontario-based company exclusive rights to use certain content and brands owned by the rapper's company, LBC Holdings.

In exchange for the rights, Tweed will pay Snoop Dogg an undisclosed amount in cash and stock.

The partnership is the rapper's first foray into the Canadian cannabis industry.

Calvin Broadus Jr., the rapper known as Snoop Dogg, has made a number of investments recently in the marijuana business, including launching his own cannabis line, Leafs by Snoop, in Colorado last November.

Earlier last year, he created a venture capital fund focused on the pot industry called Casa Verde Capital.

The deal with Tweed is valid for three years and may be renewed for another two at the end of that term.

"There are real social and medical benefits from the cannabis industry, and the world is seeing this positivity in a whole new way," Snoop Dogg said in a statement.

"Canada has been at the forefront of the business model, and I look forward to being a part of the road ahead."

Last year, Snoop filmed an appearance for the 10th season of "Trailer Park Boys," the beloved Canadian series that's now on Netflix.

Tweed president Mark Zekulin said the company, which now produces medical marijuana but is readying itself for the introduction of a recreational marijuana market, plans to unveil more details about the deal over the coming months.

"The deal locks us in a relationship with a connoisseur and icon in the cannabis space," Zekulin said Thursday.

Tweed is a subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation, a combined company formed when Tweed merged with Bedrocan last year.

The Bedrocan brand remains focused on serving medical patients under the existing medical marijuana regime.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.