JAMAICA MULLS LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

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."