Pubdate: Sat, 18 Aug 2001
Source: The Dominion Post (WV)
Copyright: 2001 The Dominion Post
Contact:  http://www.dominionpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1426
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

JAMAICA MULLING OKING MARIJUANA FOR PRIVATE USE

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- In the heart of Kingston, about a dozen men stand 
in an open-air emporium stacking long buds of marijuana even though the 
crop is illegal in Jamaica.

"High-grade, the best ... smell it," says a dreadlocked 27-year-old 
Rastafarian at the "Luke Lane" market, who gives his name only as Toro as 
he holds a bud in the air and beckons to a passer-by. Sale completed, he 
lights a joint of rolled marijuana and smiles.

These days, he has a lot to be happy about.

A government commission recommended Thursday that marijuana be legalized 
for personal use by adults -- a move the government will likely endorse 
despite opposition from the United States, which has spent millions to 
eradicate the crop on the Caribbean isl and.

"(Marijuana's) reputation among the people as a panacea and a spiritually 
enhancing substance is so strong that it must be regarded as culturally 
entrenched," said the commission's report.

The National Commission on Ganja -- as marijuana is known here -- also said 
Jamaica should allow the use of marijuana for religious purposes. This is 
important to the Rastafarian minority, who worship deceased Ethiopian 
Emperor Haile Selassie as a prophet and use marijuana as a sacrament.

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson last year appointed the commission, which 
included academics and doctors. So far, he and elected officials have not 
publicly commented on the report. But Ralston Smith, an aide to Patterson, 
said: "My gut feeling is that the commission's recommendations will be 
followed."
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