KINGSTON, Jamaica – Taking a deep draw on a pipe that glows with burning marijuana, reggae luminary Bunny Wailer gives a satisfied grin through a haze of aromatic smoke in his concrete yard painted in the red, green, gold and black colors identified with his Rastafarian faith.
These days, the baritone singer from the legendary Wailers – the group he formed in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh – has reason to feel good. There is unprecedented traction building in Jamaica to decriminalize pot, meaning the dreadlocked Wailer and other adherents of Rastafari – a homegrown spiritual movement that considers the drug divine – may soon be able to smoke without fear of arrest.
“Rastas have treated marijuana as something legal all along, even though we have been sent to prison for using the herb in our prayer. But this is the time for all these pressures to stop. The world is catching up now,” the 67-year-old, three-time Grammy winner said at his modest Kingston home.
Jamaica is known internationally for its marijuana. The hardy plant grows easily on the tropical Caribbean island, where its use is culturally entrenched despite being legally banned for 100 years. Cultivation is kept hidden, with small patches tucked into mountainsides, in swamps and between rows of other crops. Wailer, himself, was convicted of possession in 1967 and did more than a year of hard labor.
Previous moves to decriminalize the drug failed to advance mainly because officials feared they would violate international treaties and bring sanctions from Washington. But now, with a number of U.S. states relaxing their marijuana laws – Colorado and Washington state even allow recreational use – Jamaica is rethinking its position.
“Ganja,” as marijuana is known locally, has a long history on the island. It was introduced to Jamaica in the 19th century by Indian indentured servants and it gained popularity as a medicinal herb. Use spread among the poor in the 1930s with the founding of Rastafari, a spiritual movement that melds Old Testament teachings and Pan-Africanism and whose followers worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
For years, Rastafarians were treated as second-class citizens and looked down upon by many Jamaicans as oddball, even dangerous drug-addled cultists. Police shooting ranges once had images of dreadlocked Rastas as targets..
“Rastas have gone through a lot of hassles for years, getting criminalized and locked up for using the herb. But things are changing because ganja is what the world needs now,” Wailer said, before taking another appreciative toke from his pipe.
