Rastafarian priest Headley Samuel holds up a stem of pungent marijuana and reveals his recipe for bliss: "Fast, breakfast, drink aloe vera and smoke ganja."

His routine, which he says takes him to "the highest spiritual realm", makes him a lawbreaker. But soon that may change. Jamaica, the largest producer of cannabis in the Caribbean, is considering decriminalising use of the drug.

A seven-member government commission has examined possible reforms of the nation's anti-drug laws, which some police complain clog up courts and jails with marijuana-related cases.

Possession of ganja, as it is known in Jamaica, can be punished with imprisonment. Some Jamaicans consider that disproportionate and a recent newspaper poll revealed that Jamaicans rate smoking above drinking as a way to wind down.

It is widely used, with fumes wafting from Kingston building sites and across bars. Quantities are openly for sale in parts of downtown Kingston for as little as 35p for a spliff.

A previous government-appointed ganja commission proposed decriminalisation in 2003. That was never acted upon because the government feared it would cause the withdrawal of their country's US anti-drug certification and trigger economic sanctions.

The new Jamaican Labour party government, which took power last year, has decided to think again.

"We are happy to know this has not been forgotten," said Paul Burke, president of the National Alliance for the Legalisation of Ganja. "It would release the police from the bind of an unjust and an unenforceable law.

"If you go to a football match in Jamaica, it is smoked with impunity. Ganja should be allowed to be smoked in people's private residences and everybody should be allowed a certain amount and should be allowed to grow some stems in their own area."

The drug is revered by Rastafarians who believe a verse in Psalms which says God "causeth the grass to grow for cattle, and the herb for the service of man" gives them the right to defy the law. But thousands more use it as a recreational drug and cultivation has increased following the recent crackdown on cocaine trafficking.

The western slopes of the parishes of Westmoreland and St Elizabeth produce the most coveted varieties. There the crop, which grows to two metres, is hidden from the police and army among sugar cane fields.

"I don't see why the government tries to fight it," said Verona White, 49, a mother of six children and an orthodox Bobo Rastafarian. "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."

Another Bobo rasta, priest Emmanuel Moses, 56, made more outlandish claims for its powers.

"It drives away Aids and diseases like that," he said. "It's a medicine for the world. It's not a drug. Herb is herb."

However, the review is unlikely to propose a complete liberalisation, according to consultees. Allowances for use at home and small-scale cultivation could be offset by bans on smoking in public places and educational campaigns to discourage children from taking the drug.

There is a strong lobby from conservative sections of Jamaican society who object to passive ganja smoking and doctors have urged the government to produce public information campaigns explaining the side effects, particularly on mental health.

Dr Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica, said the review had partly been triggered by research showing an increase in the use of marijuana among children and concern at the increasingly open use of the drug in public places.

British government officials in Jamaica, concerned at the failure of police to prevent organised crime and cocaine trafficking which causes violence on Britain's streets, said decriminalisation could free up the criminal justice system for fighting more serious crime. But it is not a simple equation.

"Jamaica, sadly, is a world leader in the cultivation of marijuana and one of the big problems in the country is the ganja-for-guns trade with Haiti," said Brendan Gill, the senior political secretary at the British high commission.

"The guns come into Haiti from the US and then they find their way here. Legalisation might entrench the power of the dons and gangs who are already using marijuana to bring in guns."

Spliff society: Jamaica considers calls to decriminalise use of ganja | World news | The Guardian

real herb should be legalised

but the problem is they isnt that much real herb around no more

infact it was a trip to jamaica in 2001 that led to me STOPPING smoking weed

the weed was so pure and soo good outthere that when I came back to england I just couldnt smoke the shit here no more

over here back then you had only a few choices

weak ass "african weed"

"chocolate" which was ok but sometimes unavailible

and all them "super" types....skunk cheese AK ect ect that just killed your head and made you have headache

so I locked it off man...no more weed fi mi inna dis country

weak ass

Should definitely legalize it, if they allowed it to be smoked in licensed places it'd do well. It'd take a trade from people selling the stuff to make a small change for themselves though.

Keep SKUNK illegal, and legalize weed.

Meh, they should legalize the killing of junkies.

Weed is a gateway drug. Yet to meet one person who smokes that shit not end up on LSD, Speed, E's, Crack or Heroin sooner or later. Simple fact is if the next high is readily available, they'll go for it. Currently some people I've pretty much disowned are currently experimenting with Ketamine.

I started a book with my mates on which one will die first.