Jamaica’s cannabis gamble

WHEN JAMAICAN children catch a cold, mothers rub cannabis oil on their chests. Rastafarians smoke cannabis as a religious custom. Some believe that it grew on King Solomon’s tomb. Encouraged by the tropical climate, cannabis grows in many household gardens.

Until now, Jamaica’s connection to cannabis has mainly been a problem for the Caribbean country. It is the region’s biggest supplier of illegal weed to the United States, which coaxes the government to destroy illicit fields. Before 2015, a conviction for possession could result in a sentence of up to five years in jail. Thousands of young men were locked up.