KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP): Jamaica is almost without a hitch.
Heavy rains, followed by extensive drought, increased local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana producers have caused a shortage in the famous illegal but largely illegal market on the island, which according to the experts is the worst they have ever seen.
“It’s a cultural shame,” said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer at Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the country’s nascent legal cannabis industry.
Jamaica, which foreigners have long associated with pot, reggae and rastafaris, authorized a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalized small amounts of weeds in 2015.
People caught with 56 grams or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and have no arrest or criminal record. The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes.
But the application is scarce as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown and is more expensive.
Heavy rains during last year’s hurricane season hit marijuana fields that were then burned by the ensuing drought, causing losses of tens of thousands of dollars, according to farmers who grow pots outside the legal system. .
“It destroyed everything,” said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the southwestern part of Jamaica, in a historic village called Accompong founded by runaway 18th-century slaves known as Maroons.
The worsening of the problem was a strict measure of COVID-19, including a curfew at 6 p.m., which meant farmers could not approach their fields at night, as usual, said Kenrick Wallace of 29 years, cultivating 2 acres (almost one hectare) helps 20 more farmers.
He noted that the lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields, and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do these jobs at night due to the curfew.
Wallace estimated that he had lost more than $ 18,000 in recent months and grew only £ 300, compared to an average of £ 700 to £ 800 that the group normally produces.
Activists say they believe the pandemic and the loosening of Jamaica’s marijuana laws have led to an increase in local consumption that has contributed to shortages, even if the pandemic has hurt the arrival of tourists. looking for ganja.
“Last year was the worst. … We’ve never had that loss, “Thompson said.” It’s such a ridiculous thing that cannabis is so short in Jamaica. “
Tourists have also taken note, posting on travel websites the difficulties of finding the drug.
Paul Burke, CEO of the Jamaica Ganja Producers Association, said in a telephone interview that people are no longer afraid of being shut down now that the government allows possession of small amounts. He said stigma against ganja has decreased and more people appreciate its therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.
Burke also said some small traditional farmers have stopped growing in frustration because they cannot afford to meet the requirements for the legal market while police continue to destroy what he described as “good grapevine fields.”
The government’s cannabis licensing authority of the government, which has authorized 29 growers and issued 73 licenses for transportation, retail, processing and other activities, said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry. But farmers and activists say weeds sold through legal dispensaries known as herb houses are beyond the reach of many, as they still cost five to ten times more than the pot on the street.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.