Jamaican push to legalise cannabis in bid to boost tourism industry.
- Politicians believe promoting the controlled sale of the narcotic will bring tens of thousands of extra tourists
- Drug is widely grown and used throughout Caribbean, especially Jamaica.
By Nick Fagge
Published: 20:08 EST, 9 June 2014 | Updated: 02:14 EST, 10 June 2014
814shares
33
Viewcomments
As the birth place of reggae music and the Rastafarian religious cult Jamaica has long been associated with cannabis.
Now high ranking officials of the Caribbean state want to legalise the widely used but illegal drug – in a bid to spark a tourism boom.
They believe promoting the controlled sale of the narcotic will bring tens of thousands of extra tourists to the island which has suffered from a faltering economy and high unemployment.
Jamaica wants to attract people like these two young women to their island to boost tourism
Supporters hope to follow the example of the US state of Colorado which has raked in a fortune after the sale of cannabis was decriminalised – and taxed – on January 1 this year.
Angel Brown Burke, the mayor of Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, said: ‘The time has come to provide an opportunity for Jamaicans to benefit from the marijuana industry.’
The drug – known locally as ‘ganja’ - is widely grown and used throughout the Caribbean, especially Jamaica.
Farmers have also mounted a campaign to legalise the drug, under the banner ‘Wake Up Jamaica’.
Ganja grower Clinel Robinson, 69, said: ‘If they know they can come into a ganja field and police wouldn’t come, thousands, they would come.
‘Hotels would be full of people. Everybody would benefit.’
Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley popularised the smoking of cannabis and was often photographed and filmed using the drug. Rastafarians consider the herb sacred to their religion.
However cannabis can cause mental health problems, lung damage and lead to the use of harder drugs.
Uruguay became the first country to make it legal to grow, sell and consume cannabis last year
In April dreadlocked Rastafarians and farmers held a rally in Kingston to launch their bid to decriminalise the drug.
Jamaica is a major exporter of cannabis with more than 37,000 acres devoted to growing the narcotic crop every year.
Uruguay became the first country to make it legal to grow, sell and consume cannabis last year. Details of how the scheme will work are to be unveiled shortly.