Editorial

Rasta : Songs of Freedom

By team ⋅ March 29, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Spliff Society: Jamaica to decriminalise the use of ganja

Rastafarian priest Headley Samuel holds up a stem of pure marijuana and reveals his recipe for happiness: ‘Fast, breakfast, drink aloe vera, and smoke ganja.’

The good old man’s spiritual routine makes him a lawbreaker. However, this may soon change. Jamaica, the largest producer of cannabis in the Caribbean, is considering decriminalising use of the drug. Possession of marijuana in Jamaica can mean a jail sentence, but many police complain that dope-related cases only clog up the courts. Recently, a seven-member government commission has examined possible reforms of the nation’s anti-drug laws.

A newspaper poll has revealed that Jamaicans rate smoking above drinking as a way to relax. Weed is openly on sale in downtown Kingston, and spliffs are as little as 35p each. Rastafarians use religion to license their use of the herb and defy the law, but thousands more use it recreationally. The smell of weed will certainly be wafting through the air from football matches to shopping centres.

Indeed, cultivation has increased since the recent crack-down on cocaine trafficking. The slopes of Westmoreland and St Elizabeth produce the most sought after varieties, which grow up to two metres high and are hidden among sugar cane fields. ‘I don’t see why the government tries to fight it,’ said Verona White, Bobo Rastafarian, 49 and mother of six. ‘Anywhere water catches in Jamaica, it grows. Doctor, lawyer, everybody takes it. I went to see a pastor in St Ann’s parish and he told me he couldn’t preach without it.’

In 2003, similar steps were taken to decriminalise ganja, but were never finalised due to government fears that legalisation would cause the withdrawal of the country’s US anti-drug certification. This would trigger economic sanctions. There have also been concerns over the ganja-for-guns trade with Haiti, which Jamaica has so far failed to control.
The new review is unlikely to end in complete liberalisation, due to educational campaigns, mental health lobbies and bans on smoking in public places. However, use at home and small scale cultivation may be a successful offset. Luckily for some, the new Jamaican Labour party has decided to give it another go.

Rastafarians: Songs of Freedom

‘The more Bob Marley and the Wailers hung out in the Kingston music scene, the more they came into contact with Rastafarians…’ (Marley Legend, 18)

The word Rasta brings to mind reggae, dreadlocks, Jamaica and of course, clouds of smoke. However, the history of this movement is little known. Rastas are followers of a religious movement who view Africans in the West as exiles from their homeland and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as the true Messiah.

Much of the tenets of Rastafarianism date back to Marcus Garvey, born in 1987 in St. Anne’s Bay, Jamaica. Fighting throughout his life for racial equality and social improvement, Garvey advocated a back-to-Africa movement that, in part, came from a line in Psalms 68: ‘Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.’ Inspired, Garvey declared that blacks should ‘look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King; He shall be the Redeemer.’

In 1930, Ras Tafari Markonnen, great-grandson of King Saheka Selassie of Shoa, became emperor of Ethiopia. To many in his homeland, Garvey’s prophecies seemed to be fulfilled. Taking the title, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I (meaning ‘Power of the Holy Trinity’), Ethiopia’s new leader brought hope and inspiration to the poor and dispossessed of Jamaica. At the time of Haile Selassie I’s leadership, Ethiopia was one of the only independent African states in a continent of colonised nations. Rastafarian (taken from Selassie’s name) encampments sprung up all over Jamaica.

Over the next few decades, Rastafarianism took a strong hold on Jamaica’s poor as they struggled for equal rights and justice. They became known for their use of ganja, their dreadlocked appearance, and their subversive political views. Smoking cannabis was seen as a low class habit, and unkempt hair was a sign of madness. This meant that Rastas were considered the pariahs of Jamaican society. However, they stuck to their ways and to this day, the main directives of their belief include, opposition to evil; anti-establishment behaviour against the innate wickedness of government bodies; the dignity of the black race; preparation for return to Africa; and the acknowledgement of Emperor Haile Selassie I as the Messiah.

When Haile Selassi made a state visit to Jamaica in April 1966, more than 100,000 Jamaicans turned out to greet him at the airport. Getting off the plane, he declared to the thrilled crowd ‘I am not the Messiah’, only to be drowned out by whooping and cheering.

The reluctance of their Messiah never put the Rastas off. They smoke for spiritual enlightenment, also giving it to their children. Despite this controversial habit, their reputation has slowly changed. 60s hippie culture highlighted the peaceful effects of smoking weed and the fundamental promotion of love, which Rastas live for. Their use of cannabis even seems divinely sanctioned: Rastafarians quote a verse in Psalms which says, God ’causeth the grass to grow for cattle, and the herb for the service of man.’

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Age old smoking

Cannabis pollen has been found on the mummy of Rameses II. The remains of burnt seeds have even been discovered by archaeologists in Neolithic sites, in central Europe. The plant cannabis is thought to have originated in central Asia, near the regions north of Afghanistan and the mountains of southern Siberia. Lying on the ancient Silk Roads, cannabis was taken from these areas and traded all over the world in later centuries: from India to the Arab world, then finally it was taken south of the Sahara by migrant communities of Muslims who traded along the eastern African coast.

The Chinese were taking it far before the Rastas. A pharmacopoeia or list of medicines called ‘Pen Ching’, 1st century BC says to take to much ‘makes people see demons and throw themselves about like maniacs’. They believed that using cannabis and ginseng together gave one visionary powers to see into the future. The social use of cannabis was seen more in the Middle East, India and Africa.

Worldwide names for cannabis:
Acapulco Gold
Durban Poison
Bhang [India – one of Shiva’s names was ‘Lord of Bhang’]
Ganja [India]
Kan Xa [Loas]
Can Xa [Vietnam]
Kancha [Thailand]
Kanhcha [Cambodia – here the plant is sometimes boiled, the resulting liquid is sprinkled on tobacco and smoked]
Matokwane [Central Africa]
Neck Weed, Welsh Parsley, Gallows Grass [Elizabethan Eng: hangman’s noose was made of hemp]
Muggles, Moota, Mezz, Sassfras, Tea, Griff [USA 1920s]
Grifos [Caribbean: from Spanish word meaning crinkly, and origin of the anglicized word, reefer]
Weed, Blow, Gear, Grass, Draw, Smoke, Shit, Herb [Modern, Western]
Lamb’s Bread [Rastafarians]
Panama Red
Thai Sticks

In Southeast Asia, hemp leaves are often used in cooking to make soups, curries and fish fritters.

A user’s guide to local Jamaican types:
- The Guardian, 11 March

Colly herb: Dry, brown type with a fresh taste. Considered basic and relatively mild.
Indica: Strong, cross-bred variety related to skunk, with a sticky consistency.
White Rhino and White Ice: Strongest Jamaican varieties, fertilised with bat droppings and fruit.
Lambs Bread: ‘Gummy’ variety with a flat, broad bud that smokers say resembles a slice of bread. It packs a strong punch..
Cotton and Thyme: Varieties with soft, small and tender buds which thrive best on the sunny, west-facing slopes of Jamaica