JAMAICA MIGHT LEGALIZE POT USE

KINGSTON, Jamaica--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 passerby. 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 is likely
to endorse despite opposition from the United States, which has spent
millions to eradicate the crop on the Caribbean island.

"[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,'' the commission's report said.

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 use marijuana as a
sacrament.

Any change in existing drug laws would have to be approved by
Parliament. And legalization, even for personal use, could cause
friction with the United States and violate the 1988 UN Convention
Against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances. Jamaica signed the accord.

''The U.S. opposes the decriminalization of marijuana,'' Michael
Koplovsky, a U.S. Embassy spokesman, said Thursday.

Over the last 20 years, the United States has worked with Jamaica to
burn marijuana fields and carry out other anti-drug efforts.

The commission addressed these concerns in its report, urging the
government to ''embark on diplomatic initiatives . . . to elicit
support for its internal position and influence the international
community to re-examine the status of cannabis.''

Marijuana's deep roots in Jamaica's culture were clear in Luke Lane
after word spread of the commission's recommendation. Among the
patrons was 43-year-old Horace Clarke, who was also buying school
supplies for his three children.

''At night, when the children are sleeping, sometimes I smoke a
little with my lady,'' Clarke said as he bought a quarter ounce for
about $2.50.

The vendors were pleased at the possibility the it might be legal to
use marijuana, even though selling the drug would remain illegal.

''If you're going to smoke it, you have to get it, and we sell it,''
said a dealer who gave his name only as Metro.