Lit_Match

Welcome to marijuana land
02-17-08|Sunday Gleaner|Michelle-Ann Letman

It is a long, rocky journey to the secluded rural community of Slipe in St Elizabeth. The unpaved, pothole-filled road leading into the small farming community is in a sate of disrepair.

Grazing cows in dry, dusty fields on either side of the road is a permanent feature of Slipe. The dwellings are well spaced, and it is obvious that the population density is low.

The strong smell of marijuana (weed/ganja) hits the nostrils as we manoeuvre our way on the bumpy road. Further on, a group of 'spliff'-smoking young men stare suspiciously as the vehicle passes.

We stop to ask a resident of the community about the lifestyle of the residents of Slipe. "Wi farm illegal things," she tells us without hesitation. "What kind of illegal things? Weed. Everybody do it and everybody know, all in the swamp dem plant it," she replies.

"We just have to tek the risks, all if the police come cut it down, we nuh have nuh other choice," the young mother tells The Sunday Gleaner.

In Slipe, information is shared openly. Quickly apologising for not having any 'weed' ready to sell, a farmer points us in the direction of his friend.

"You know, mi nuh have none (weed)," he says, "but mek mi go check mi fren. See him a come down the road."

Always on hand.

His friend walks up to the vehicle and informs us that he has no weed available, but he is going to check to see if "elder have any." The farmer, dressed in a singlet and short pants, scales a wire fence in search of the 'ting'. He returns about five minutes later, gripping a black plastic bag tightly.

"Him seh you nuh affe pay still," he says when handing over the bag. We then make our way out of the ganja-farming community.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

Buzzby

Why don't any of my dealers ever say that?

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MasterCylinder

Because your breasts aren't as big as hers.

ADIDAS

The classic black plastic bag hahaha.

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All Day I Dream About Smoking

Hashishi

This brought a tear to my eye.

What a life.

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troublemaker_42

LOL.... I'm betting ANYONE who has ever bought weed in Jamaica is familiar with the black plastic bags. I thought they were a weird consistency, almost like a paper/plastic blend......

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Ted Nugent: "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic."


If total government control equals safety, why are prisons so dangerous?

Jake

It seems like Jamaicans are the only ones who still have their dialect actually written like that.

Unless the article decides to spell "leading" as "leeding" there is no reason to just make the people look stupid....

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Buzzby

I'm confused. Rural Jamaicans do sound like that. Why do you think that makes them look stupid? Do French people look stupid because they don't verbalize their thoughts the same way you do?

Jake

Whenever you blatantly just spell exactly how a person sounds, it's usually to mock. When southeners get on the news, they don't spell all of their mispronunciations like that.

troublemaker_42

Its a Jamaican paper, written by and for Jamaicans. there was absolutely no disrespect implied or otherwise, and no, this wasn't just a "stoner article". it appeared in the Jamaican Gleaner, which is one of two daily newsapapers there. Writing in their own dialect (patois) is very common in Jamaica, and while its basically English, the average American isn't going to understand every word and will be lucky to pick up every third or fourth word when listening to Jamaicans converse with one another. When speaking to tourists, they usually make an effort to speak a more universal dialect, but even then, it can be incredibly hard to understand if you aren't listening very intently

Check out Jamaica Gleaner News Online - Wednesday | February 20, 2008 or JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM You'll notice that patois is commonly used even in "serious" journalism in Jamaica, especially when taking direct quotes from people.