KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – Jamaica is deficient in ganja.
Heavy rains followed by a prolonged drought, an increase in local consumption and a decline in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island’s famous but largely illegal market, which experts say is the worst they’ve seen.
“It’s a cultural embarrassment,” said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer for Tacaya, an advisory and brokerage firm for the country’s emerging legal cannabis industry.
Long associated with weed, reggae and Rastafari by foreigners, Jamaica allowed a regulated medical marijuana industry in 2015 and decriminalized small amounts of weed.
People caught with 2 ounces (56 grams) or less of cannabis are expected to pay a small fine and will not receive an arrest or criminal record. On the island, individuals can also grow up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes.
But enforcement is spotty, as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has become scarcer and more expensive.
Heavy rainfall during last year’s hurricane season hit marijuana fields later scorched by the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who grow marijuana outside the legal system.
“It destroyed everything,” said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in southwestern Jamaica in a historic village called Accompong, founded by escaped 18th-century slaves known as Maroons.
The problem was exacerbated by strict COVID-19 measures, including a 6 p.m. curfew, which meant farmers could not work to their fields at night, as is common practice, said Kenrick Wallace, 29, who covers 2 acres one hectare) cultivation in Accompong with the help of 20 other farmers.
He noted that a lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields – then fetch water from wells and wells. Many were unable to do those chores at night because of curfews.
Wallace estimated he lost more than $ 18,000 in the past few months and grew just 300 pounds, compared to an average of 700 to 800 pounds the group normally produces.
Activists say they believe the pandemic and a relaxation of Jamaican marijuana laws have led to an increase in local consumption that contributed to the scarcity, even as the pandemic put a dent in the arrival of ganja-seeking tourists.
“Last year was the worst year. … We’ve never suffered so much loss, ”said Thompson. “It’s so laughable that there is a cannabis shortage in Jamaica.”
Tourists have also taken notice of posting on travel sites about difficulties in finding the drug.
Paul Burke, CEO of Jamaica’s Ganja Growers and Producers Association, said in a phone interview that people are no longer afraid of being incarcerated now that the government allows the possession of small quantities. He said the stigma against ganja has diminished and more people appreciate its purported therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.
Burke also said some traditional smallholders have stopped growing out of frustration at not being able to afford to meet legal market demands, while police continue to destroy what he described as ‘good ganja fields’ .
The government’s Cannabis Licensing Authority – which has authorized 29 growers and issued 73 licenses for transportation, sales, processing and other activities – said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry. But farmers and activists say cannabis sold through legal dispensaries, known as spice houses, is out of reach for many, as it still costs five to 10 times more than street weed.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.