Jamaica: Religion, Culture, and Regulation
Rastafarianism and cannabis are inextricably linked to Jamaica. But which came first, the religion or ganja? Ganja did. The relationship between cannabis and Jamaica predates the pro-African movement that created Rastafari in the early twentieth century. Cannabis was introduced to the island in the 1850s and ’60s, reportedly in the form of seeds indentured servants from India brought with them. (Both nations were under British rule at the time). This explains much of the India-sourced slang used by Jamaicans when referring to the plant, including the term ganja, which was borrowed from Hindi about 1856. While not expressly legal, ganja cultivation and use was popular on the island — especially among the lower classes and in poor neighborhoods primarily inhabited by Black former slaves — until the blatantly racist Ganja Law of 1913 outlawed the herb. The act was proposed by the Council of Evangelical Churches and plantation owners, the latter of whom remained prickly after Britain abo...