THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica is again considering the legalization of marijuana.
A seven-member government commission has been researching possible changes to the Caribbean country’s anti-drug laws.
Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh says the commission is now preparing to report to the prime minister on the legalization issue.
In 2003, a government commission recommended legalizing marijuana in small amounts for personal use.
But legislators never acted, saying it might entail the loss of their country’s U.S. anti-drug certification. Countries that lose it face economic sanctions.
Marijuana is revered by members of the island’s large Rastafarian population who say smoking it is part of their religion. Many in the police force also complain that the courts and jails have become clogged with marijuana-related cases.
A U.S. State Department report Friday said that Jamaica is the largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean and a major hub for drugs bound for the United States.
Members of the Rastafarian movement, which emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks, have long lobbied for the legalization of the drug that they say brings them closer to the divine.
2 Responses “Cannabis: Jamaica Considers Legalizing Marijuana”
About time they get their acts together there.
Cannabis has the potential to revolutionize and liberate any third word economy that understands its unlimited potential.
Jamaica of all countries stands to reap billions of tourist Dollars if it legalizes the Herb. Holland is already reaping the benefits of herb so why not Jamaica…the land of the Rastaman.
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:45 pm. Permalink.
many very black skinned people have straight,wavy,and culy hair and features like egypts nefertiti.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm. Permalink.