Smoking marijuana is a deeply ingrained tradition in certain areas of the planet. Regardless of whether the consumption, possession or cultivation of cannabis is legal or not, issues that are much more complex than those that have to do with strictly sociocultural and even religious issues, when we talk about marijuana, some places immediately come to mind. that are a benchmark of cannabis culture.
Kathmandu, Benares, Amsterdam or Chaouen are some of those points that cannot be missing on the map of every marijuana lover wanting to experiment with their favorite plant and with all the products that can be obtained from it. Frequent destinations for the cannabis consumer, among which Negril stands out, the marijuana center of Jamaica, a world benchmark for Rastafarian culture.
Sightseeing tours to visit cannabis crops in Jamaica
Each region of the world has its singularities and its particular tourist attractions. And when we think of Jamaica we inevitably have to associate it with reggae music, Bob Marley, Rastafarians and of course marijuana. So it is not surprising that in this region of the planet tourist tours are designed to show the most curious visitors the extensive cannabis plantations that have made this Caribbean island so popular.
Of course, it is a totally illegal activity, so be careful if you want to venture to know these places where your favorite marijuana is grown. Even if the laws have undergone major changes in recent yearsIt is important to know that despite the fact that Jamaica is a world reference for the Rastafari movement and therefore for the consumption of marijuana (this plant is considered a sacred natural element and a spiritual purifier), this is not exactly the country on the planet with the most lax legislation in relation to everything that has to do with this plant.
But the issue of cannabis tourism has always left a lot of money on the island, so the authorities have turned a blind eye even during that long period in which marijuana has been heavily criminalized. For a long time and regardless of the fact that the legislation was not modified until just a couple of years ago, tourism for marijuana lovers has been one of the typical activities of the island and in the same way that in countries like France it is they visit vineyards or in Scotland they visit whiskey distilleries, in Jamaica it became popular to contact local growers to visit their hidden cannabis plantations.
Jamaican law is also updated for tourists
Marijuana has been cultivated in Jamaica since the mid-nineteenth century with seeds from India that helped the development of the Rastafarian culture, whose origins came from another continent, Africa.
Rastafarianism is a religion that has its roots in Ethiopia and that, as you may already know, considers marijuana as a sacred plant and of spiritual purification. It was so widely received in the Caribbean island that as a measure of repression against the black lower classes, the Council of Evangelical Churches decided to pressure so that cannabis was outlawed in 1913 and that ban was in place until 2015. So those who thought you could travel to Jamaica to smoke weed like a champion were probably disappointed.
As always, the opening measures began a little earlier with the issue of decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, something that had already been contemplated in the reform of the Ganja Law, in force since 1913 and revised in 2014. But the The most important step would be taken at the beginning of 2015 when the state government presented several amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Law, correcting various aspects related to the use and possession of cannabis.
In this way Possession of a certain amount of marijuana for personal use is decriminalized, even for tourists, as well as growing up to five plants in your own home. Let us remember that decriminalization does not mean liberalization. That is, you can carry up to 56 grams of yerba on you without ending up in the dungeon of an island prison, but if the police on duty cross the cables, you could get a fine that, in any case, would not exceed the 5 dollars.
However, it will not be the most common. Even before the reform of the law, persecuting tourists for marijuana use on the island was not a common practice among the authorities because it was not of interest from an economic point of view. The end of the day, the only thing they were going to achieve is that the following year they chose another destination in which to spend their vacations, so that they have always turned a blind eye. Now with the change of law marijuana lovers can travel even safer in this sense.
And what about plantation visits in Jamaica?
The populars Cannabis Tours they remain an open secret about which there is no need for a law to prohibit or authorize. They have always existed and they will always be there. All in all, Jamaica is the Caribbean country that exports the most cannabis to the United States, so the weed has to come from somewhere, right?
So local growers continue to offer tourists visits to their clandestine plantations to show you in situ where some of the most popular varieties that are smoked on the island and in the United States come from. Most tourists who visit these farms taste these herbs right there even knowing that in their countries of origin they can do so at a much lower price, but they assure that the pleasure of smoking a joint in Jamaica and surrounded by marijuana is something that a lover of cannabis you have to experience at least once in your life.
