Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

Marijuana
International Business
BUSN-659
Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of Marijuana
As a child growing up, I have seen some of my male family members used
marijuana CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 . Back in Jamaica, the most commonly used term is weed or ganja. My
grandfather especially used it for his glaucoma. He would boil it, allow it to cool and then use a
spoon to collect some that he used to soak each eye in. This process was repeated for at least
three times per day. If this helped him see better, I did not know. In retrospect, I was not curious
enough to ask. Grandfather, as he was called, was also a Rastafarian. Rastafarians are followers
of the religious black consciousness movement and they look upon ganja as a holy plant,
which enables them to deepen their faith (Boekhout van Solinge, 1996). As a result, he would
buil a spliff and smoke it regularly. Ganja was also used to make tea. I was never allowed to
part take in the spliff smoking or ganja tea drinking, on account that I was too young and I was
female. However, I was used to make purchases by my uncles from the local vendor, of whom
its sale was a source of income.
Having marijuana around me was the norm, so I never thought much of the legal aspects of
it. All I knew was not to get caught with it by the police; otherwise it would mean some serious
trouble. Now, Im realizing that its a global issue as countries are rushing to join the ranks of
those that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana. Maybe, they too are realizing the positive
outcomes that will result from softening the laws pertaining to marijuana, as so many
Jamaicans have been voicing over years. However, trying to join the ranks of countries that have

CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 In this paper, you will find marijuana being referred to by
other names such as weed, ganja, cannabis, herb, spliff, marihuana, among others
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already forged ahead to making marijuana legal has placed Jamaica in a delicate situation,
arguably more so than others.
Brief History on Marijuana
In the Control Substances Act provided by the United States of America (USA), marijuana is
classified as a drug that has no accepted medicinal value and a high risk of abuse. Such drugs
are illegal except for use in extremely limited circumstances, such as authorized research.
(Gahlinger, 2001) CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 . Marijuana is also classified to be a hallucinogen, psychedelic
or psychomimetics as it is known to cause altered perceptions CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Gahlinger,
2001). This discovery is surprising considering that states such as Colorado and Washington have
now legalized it. In my opinion, it is also odd that something that was widely used in the 19th and
early 20th century for its immense medicinal properties and other uses has been outlawed near the
middle of the 20th century by the US federal government. For example: Marijuana was used for
paper. According to Gahlinger (2001), a large quantity of cellulose can be produced from an acre
of cannabis than an acre of trees. Cannabis therefore is naturally superior and more economical
to manufacture paper than is wood pulp. CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Marijuanas use for making paper is
perhaps not seen today because of William Randolph Hearst. CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Hearst was a giant
in the newspaper industry who lobbied hard for marijuana to be made illegal.
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Illegal Drugs: A complete Guide to their History,
Chemistry, use and Abuse
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Illegal Drugs: A complete Guide to their History,
Chemistry, use and Abuse
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Illegal Drugs: A complete Guide to their History,
Chemistry, use and Abuse
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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Moreover, the medicinal value of marijuana dates as far back to 70 AD. Cannabis is
recommended for earachesdepression, cough, jaundice, inflammation, tumors, arthritis,
venereal diseases and asthma. Between 1839 and 1900, over 100 medical studies of cannabis
were published (Gahlinger, 2001). The revelation of all this evidence in support of the
beneficial properties for marijuana begs the question of why it was really outlawed by the US
Federal Government with the implementation of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. CITATION Jam11 \l 1033
Subsequently, a series of other laws against marijuana were implemented.
Interestingly, there are no reported deaths of marijuana, whereby close to 430,000 people
die from tobacco annually. Another 200,000 people are killed from alcohol and as many as
140,000 died from side effects or reactions to prescription drugs (Gahlinger, 2001). These
statistics beg the question as to why marijuana was, and still is in some country, made illegal.
How does this impact Jamaica?
Everybody in Jamaica knows of the lucrative business that can be achieved with the selling
of marijuana. It will help the never ending ailing economy substantially. According to
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 William Randolph Hearst, is a great newspaper publisher of
the time, and owner of millions of acres of the northwestern forestry companies that
produced the newsprint. He lobbied to make marijuana illegal to protect Hearst
Paper and Timber, in which he had invested heavily. Hearst was determined to make
cannabis unpopular, by any means possible, in order to protect his wood paper
industry (p.34, Gahlinger)
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Marijuana Tax Act- After a lurid national propaganda
against the evil weed, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. The statute
effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals
who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses. (PBS:
Frontline, 1995-2014)
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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Christopher Ingraham of The Washington Post (2014), legal cannabis could be an industry with
revenues of $35 billion. CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 This forecast could see Jamaica as a major player in the
industry, because it is seen as [the] island that is the mecca of cannabis culture (Jamaica,
2015). The notion that Jamaica is attributed with good marijuana may be as a result of
international sensation and Jamaicas own, Bob Marley and others like him who called for the
legalization of cannabis in their reggae songs CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Boekhout van Solinge, 1996).
However, up until now, Jamaica has been struggling to reform their Ganja Law Act of 1913
that was viewed as Draconian. This law prohibits the possession, cultivation, selling and use of
the illicit drug. The struggle was mainly due to real politick between Jamaica and the United
States as well as international treaties that it has signed in the war against drugs. Some of these
treaties are: 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drug and the 1972 Protocol Amending the
Single Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN
Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances CITATION Jam11 \l 1033
(Jamaica, 2015). To show its compliance and commitment to these treaties, Jamaica implemented
six marijuana-related national acts CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Jamaica, 2015).
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 The Marijuana Industry could be bigger than the NFL by
2020 by Christopher Ingraham
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Ganja in Jamaica: Social and Cultural Analyses
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Drug Law Reform in Latin America-Transnational Institute,
2015
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 These are: 1). The Dangerous Drug Act, 2). The Money
Laundering Act, 3). The Drug Offences Act, 4). The Mutual Assistance Act, 5). The
Sharing of Forfeited Property Act , and 6). The Drug Court Act (Drug Law Reform in
Latin America-Transnational Institute, 2015)
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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With regards to the United States, there were mounting fears among the government officials
of potential blowback from international forces, in particular the United States (Jamaica, 2015)
if they were to move forward with the marijuana reform. These fears are genuine, since Jamaica
relies heavily on America for international business and probably will not be able to keep its
head above water like its neighbor, Cuba. Needless to say that this gives America the upper hand
as it uses trade agreements and the provision of U.S. aid to incentivize [Jamaica] to adhere to its
drug control goals (Jamaica, 2015). A failure to comply would otherwise result in sanctions
that could have possible diplomatic and economic implication CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Abel, Sewell, &
Eldemire-Shearer, June 2011). One such implication is to face the risk of decertification, if
they do not follow along with the United States prohibitionist tactics regarding to the War on
Drugs. The consequences of decertification include the withdrawal of U.S. aid, refusal of visas,
U.S. opposition to multilateral loans and possible trade sanctions (Jamaica, 2015)

Benefits of Legalization/Decriminalization
Fortunately, the rope around Jamaicas neck was loosened somewhat because of the
legalization of marijuana in two U.S. states: Washington and Colorado in 2012 (Marijuana
Resource Center: State Laws Related to Marijuana). This move was certainly an opportunity for
Jamaica to amend its laws on marijuana and part take in what will be a booming business,
thereby having it as a source of revenue for the country. Dr. Henry Lowe was quick in seizing
this opportunity with the launching of his new company, MediCanja. The company will focus
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Decriminalization of Marijuana: Is this a realistic public
health policy for Jamaica?
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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initially on research and product development involving cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound in
marijuana that has medical effects, but not psychoactive effects CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Helps, 2013).
Dr. Lowe has high hopes that "medical ganja [will] have a multiplier effect by catalyzing other
industries such as health and wellness tourism," as well as "transform Jamaica's fledgling
economy" (Helps, 2013). He even went on to say that "given Jamaica's history with ganja, we
could be the hub for medical ganja in Latin America and the Caribbean," (Helps, 2013).
On June 2014, the Jamaican government announced that possession of up to two ounces of
marijuana would be decriminalized by September 2014 (Jamaica, 2015). Furthermore, reform to
the existing laws will seek the following changes: a). The amendment of the Dangerous Drugs
Act to remove the smoking of ganja as an offence, b). Possession of up to 2 ounces of ganja
will become a non-arrestable, ticketable infraction that does not lead to a criminal record, c).
The referral of minors or dependent ganja users to seek treatment from the National Council
on Drug Abuse, d). The limiting of ganja smoking to private premises and e). The
decriminalization of ganja possession for religious purposesfor therapeutic purposes
(Jamaica, 2015; Ganja Laws: The Governments Case for Reform, 2014). Decriminalization will
also bring back the livelihoods to so many young men who have been incarcerated or fined due
to the existing laws as the marijuana criminalization has scarlet-lettered thousands of mainly
poor young men with a police record that ruins their prospects of employment and migration,
while exposing them to contagion with hardened offenders (Jamaica, 2015; Helps, Jamaica to
decriminalize personal marijuana possession, 2014).

CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Jamaica Launches Its First Medical Ganja Company
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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Even though Jamaica saw the legalization of marijuana in states like Colorado and
Washington as a green light, there was still some level of caution overtly expressed by some of
Jamaicas officials as well as Americas officials. For example: Jamaican Foreign Minister AJ
Nicholson urged caution, saying that the island's history as a major exporter of marijuana meant
that the island was bound by international agreements on curbing drug trafficking, and that any
change in its laws would therefore have to take into account its international commitments
(Jamaica's marijuana growers split on legalisation, 2014) . The assistant secretary of the Bureau
of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), William R Brownfield, also
stated that there is a possibility that the [decriminalization] could increase inflows of marijuana
from Jamaica that now accounts for 80 per cent of ganja illegally smuggled into [the US]
(Martin-Wilkins, 2015). However, in my opinion, decriminalization as well as ultimate
legalization of marijuana will do more good than harm to both Jamaica and the US. Firstly, it
will put an end to the smuggling of the substance into the US as well as redirect focus of
resources (labor and capital) to fighting the real dangers such as cocaine, crack, heroin, etc. With
this happening, Jamaica will no longer be the largest Caribbean supplier of marijuana to the
United States (Jamaica still region's largest supplier of ganja to US - INCSR report, 2011;
Jamaica, 2015) due to drugs trafficking conducted by organized criminals. This will no doubt
lower the amount of undocumented handguns freely [flowing] into the country a significant
quantity of [which] originated in the United States as a result of the gun trade for illicit drugs
(Jamaica still region's largest supplier of ganja to US - INCSR report, 2011). Full legalization
would knock the bottom out of the market, hurting the islands powerful criminal gangs (M.W.,
2014). Secondly, decriminalization will also unclog the courts and free up police time (M.W.,
2014). Jamaica can therefore shift their focus to more serious problems that are plaguing the
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island such as natural disasters, combating gang activity, and addressing Jamaica's high murder
rate CITATION PBS14 \l 1033 (Jamaica still region's largest supplier of ganja to US - INCSR report,
2011). Thirdly, there will be investors in the market such as that posed by Canada who wants to
buy Jamaicas weed. According to Blaine Dowdle, chief executive officer of Canada-based
MedCannAccess , [Canada] is looking to engage in the potential CDN$1.2-billion medical
marijuana market. However, it is very expensive to grow marijuana in Canada, and hence
investors there would be more than willing to import it from Jamaica CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Boyd,
2014).
Drawbacks of Decriminalization/Legalization
There is no doubt that marijuana legalization will bring a lot of revenue to Jamaicas
economy. There will be business and job creation which will possibly help to lower the islands
high unemployment rate of 13.4 per cent as well as its debt which is 141.6 per cent of GDP as of
March 2014 CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 , but who exactly will benefit from this on the microscopic level?
There are mounting fears among small farmers that they would lose out and only those with
the right connections (Jamaica's marijuana growers split on legalisation, 2014) will get licenses
to grow. Those with the right connections are typically those business men with a lot of
CITATION PBS14 \l 1033 There were 1,428 murders in 2010 which is a 15 per cent
decrease from the 1,682 murders in 2009. However, Jamaicas per capita murder
rate was 52 per 100,000 citizens in 20110, giving it one of the highest murder rates
in the word- (Jamaica still region's largest supplier of ganja to US - INCSR report,
2011)-The Jamaica Observer
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Canada Wants Weed- Medical Ganja Boss Says Country
Would Purchase Jamaican Marijuana
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Jamaica Overview-The World Bank
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Jamaica and the Legalization/Decriminalization of

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influential power, termed as the bigger heads (Jamaica's marijuana growers split on
legalisation, 2014).
Also, there still remains the fact that Kingston, the capital of Jamaica is the node in the
international drug network linking Colombia to the UK and the USA thus emulating its status
as an international colonial city, first achieved via sugar and the slave trade (and the re-export of
slaves to Latin America) in the early eighteenth century CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 (Clarke, 2006). This
means there is some amount of resource that has to be invested to stop the trafficking of crack,
cocaine that passes through Jamaicas borders and ultimately end up in the U.S and UK.
Cocaine and synthetic drugs are not produced locally, but Jamaica is a transit point for cocaine
trafficked from Central and South America to North America (Jamaica still region's largest
supplier of ganja to US - INCSR report, 2011).

Conclusion
In concluding, the legalization of marijuana in Jamaica is mostly beneficial to the countrys
economy. It will bolster the tourism sector and the medical industry, create jobs and contribute to
lowering the countrys debt. Marijuana has more benefits associated with it than drawbacks.
Glaucoma, depression and alleviating pain are just some of the few benefits of marijuana. Not
only that, but Jamaicas tarnished reputation for being the largest Caribbean country for drug
trafficking will be viewed more positively since it will be legal to transport weed. This will see a
CITATION Jam11 \l 1033 Politics, Violence and Drugs in Kingston, Jamaica- Colin
Clark
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reduction in the importation of illegal firearms into the country as well as refocusing resources to
tackle the countrys high murder rate. Unfortunately, Kingston will unavoidably remain
enmeshed in trans-Caribbean and trans-Atlantic drug networks (Clarke, 2006) for more
dangerous drugs such as crack and cocaine. But, this is a problem the island faces that is separate
and distinctive from marijuana and its legalization. Consequently, Jamaica still needs help to
combat this issue. Fighting this will prove that Jamaica is still committed to the international war
on drugs.

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