Jamaica Mulls Legalizing Marijuana
By MATTHEW J. ROSENBERG
01:27 AM ET 08/25/99
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Sitting in a small shop in Dunkirk, one of Kingston's
poorest neighborhoods, Junior Spence tells a tale he describes as incredible: one day he
was arrested by police - for smoking marijuana! ``I could not believe it,'' said the
23-year-old, who months later remains befuddled over the arrest that landed him in jail
for a few days and cost him a $20 fine.
``Everybody smokes ganja. The police never hassle them!'' Spence found out the
hard way that's not always true. Even though ``ganja'' is revered by Jamaica's famed
Rastafarians and smoked regularly by many ordinary Jamaicans, it remains illegal. One
critic, Sen. Trevor Munroe, is sponsoring a motion in parliament to study marijuana's
medical value, examine how widely it is used and allow possession of small amounts.
That would offend Washington, which considers Jamaican marijuana an American
problem because much of it ends up in the United States.
The proposal's chances appear slim because the government opposes it. But it has
spawned debate.
``The politicians are afraid of making America angry, so they do as they are
told,'' said John Elvove, 46, a construction worker who, like most people interviewed,
opposed the laws against marijuana.
Despite the stereotype of reggae-listening pot smokers in dreadlocks, many
Jamaicans insist theirs is a conservative society. The number of users is in dispute, but
the smell of ganja is everywhere in Kingston. Sociologist Richard Crawford of the
University of the West Indies says at least 45 percent of Jamaicans ``have smoked, do
smoke and will smoke marijuana.''
Still, many others view it as a negative influence in a country that suffers
from a moribund economy and growing violent crime. Winston Mendes-Davidson, head of the
Medical Association of Jamaica, called it ``the single greatest detriment to the
development of Jamaica.''
Some 6,000 people - out of a population of 2.6 million - were detained last year
on marijuana-related charges, including possession, selling and trafficking. Officials
admit they fear a more serious crackdown will spark violent confrontations. ``During
something like a football game ... we are not going to be searching for persons with ganja
because that would involve an assault on the stadium,'' said A.J. Forbes, a police
spokesman. Indian indentured servants brought marijuana to Jamaica in the 19th century.
Its use as a medicinal herb spread rapidly among plantation workers. Ganja tea was brewed
to alleviate aches, and rum-soaked marijuana was rubbed on the body to cure coughs, colds
and fevers.
``The harsh aspects of life - the back-breaking work in the field for low wages
and poor living conditions - made it very attractive as a way to relax and escape,''
Crawford said. Use spread with the advent of Rastafarianism in the 1930s, whose adherents,
mostly the poor, considered marijuana a holy herb. But it was not until the 1960s and
1970s, when Bob Marley and other reggae icons popularized the culture of the poor among
better-off Jamaicans, that marijuana's popularity began to filter through the island's
rigid class structure and gain a wider acceptance.
Today, Jamaica is the largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean. Between
1992-98, the United States provided $7.8 million to Jamaica's effort to eliminate
production and trafficking. The most popular means employed has been sending squads to the
fields to manually chop down the plants.
Crawford said young Jamaicans - people under 30 are the majority - use ganja far
more than those who grew up in the early years of independence or under the British, who
ruled until 1962.
``Our parents were all terribly scared of this thing, and told us to keep away
from ganja,'' he said. Now, ``the values have changed.''
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