Subj: Jamaica Mulls Legalizing Marijuana



PubDate: 25 Aug 1999



Source: Associated Press



 



 Jamaica Mulls Legalizing Marijuana

 By MATTHEW J. ROSENBERG

 Associated Press Writer



           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.''