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New laws in Jamaica go into effect
Who's planning a trip to Jamaica? We are! (I'm very happy to find this group)
Jamaica’s looser marijuana laws go into full effect
The new law applies to tourists too: Foreigners who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad can get a permit to legally buy up to 2 ounces of local weed during their stay.
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Drug law amendments that partially decriminalize small amounts of pot and pave the way for a lawful medical marijuana sector went into effect Wednesday in Jamaica, a country where the drug has long been culturally entrenched.
Justice Minister Mark Golding described the reforms as “long overdue” on the Caribbean island, where the drug is revered by members of Jamaica’s Rastafari movement and used regularly by many ordinary Jamaicans. Jamaica’s Parliament gave the amendments final approval in February.
The act makes possession of up to 2 ounces (56 grams) of marijuana, or “ganja” as it’s known locally, a petty offense that could result in a roughly $5 ticket but not in an arrest or a criminal record.
Cultivation of five or fewer plants by any household is allowed. And Rastafari adults are now permitted to use marijuana for sacramental purposes for the first time since the homegrown spiritual movement was founded in the 1930s.
Original.
