Jamaica countries/jm.yaml
Not actually legal: possessing up to 2 oz (56 g) is a ticketable infraction with a fixed J$500 penalty — no arrest, no court, no criminal record.[@moj15,fact] Above 2 oz it is still a criminal offence.[@moj15] Rastafari adherents and holders of a medical permit may possess lawfully.[@moj15]
Each household may legally grow up to five ganja plants on its premises; where several households share a property, each gets five.[@moj15,fact] More than that is an offence unless licensed.[@moj15]
Small-scale possession and public smoking mean a ticket.[@fact] Possession over 2 oz, unlicensed cultivation beyond five plants, dealing and export remain criminal with fines and prison.[@fact] Under-18s found with ganja are referred to counselling.[@fact]
There is no provision for gifting.[@fact] Supplying ganja to another person outside the licensed medical system or sacramental use remains dealing.[@facts2]
Smoking in public places is prohibited on the same terms as tobacco, with a J$500 ticket.[@fact] It is lawful at a private residence that is not a workplace, in licensed premises, and at places registered for Rastafari worship or exempt events.[@fact]
A recommendation or prescription from a registered medical doctor takes medical or therapeutic possession outside the ticket rules.[@moj15] The Cannabis Licensing Authority licences sale for those purposes.[@moj15] A visitor who does not ordinarily live in Jamaica may apply to the Ministry of Health for a permit to buy and possess up to 2 ounces at a time for medical or therapeutic purposes.[@moj15] The applicant produces evidence that a licensed doctor in their home country recommended or prescribed ganja, or signs a voluntary declaration confirming that, and pays a fee.[@moj15]
Ganja is part of everyday Jamaican life, but there is still no legal recreational market. … ly for medical or therapeutic use, on a doctor's recommendation or, for visitors, a permit; the first, Kaya Herbhouse, [opened in March 2018](/history/jamaica-first-herb-house-2018/).[@cla,fact] Most ganja is still grown and sold outside the licensed system, and tourists and locals alike buy it on the street.[@ap21,gl26]
Any registered medical practitioner can recommend ganja for medical or therapeutic purposes, with no fixed list of conditions.[@fact] Patients buy from licensed herb houses.[@cla]
Tickets leave no criminal record, and earlier convictions for small quantities can be expunged.[@fact] Unpaid tickets can lead to a court order for community service.[@facts2]
The justice ministry's fact sheet on the 2015 amendment says each household may legally grow up to five ganja plants.[@fact] It does not mention seeds or say where a household may obtain plants.
Most ganja in Jamaica is still grown and sold outside the licensed system: enforcement is patchy and tourists and locals buy on the street.[@ap21,gl26] The licensed sector is small, with 15.4 hectares under legal cultivation and about 13 tonn … or at 63.5 million US dollars, a figure that leaves out illegal cannabis and home growing.[@gl26] Police tie the export trade to guns: by July 2025 they had seized more than 40,000 pounds … a guns-for-drugs trade in which ganja is the currency, with Haitians among those arrested.[@gl25]
A visitor who does not ordinarily live in Jamaica, including a tourist or a Jamaican who l … to buy and possess up to 2 ounces of ganja at a time for medical or therapeutic purposes.[@moj15] The applicant produces evidence that a licensed doctor in the country where they live recommended or prescribed it, or signs a voluntary declaration confirming that, and pays a fee.[@moj15] Without that permit, up to 2 ounces brings a J$500 ticket, with no arrest and no criminal record.[@moj15] More than 2 ounces remains a criminal offence.[@moj15] Smoking in a public place brings the same J$500 ticket.[@moj15]
There are no members' growing clubs.[@lp26] Supplying ganja to another person outside the licensed medical system or sacramental use remains dealing;[@facts2] the collective settings the law does allow are licensed dispensaries, where smoking on the premises is permitted, and Rastafari sacramental use.[@fact,lp26]
The Road Traffic Act 2018 makes drug influence that prevents proper vehicle control an offence when driving, attempting to drive or being in charge on a road or public place.[@rta2018] Its court penalty table lists a maximum J$50,000 fine, with fourteen days' imprisonment in default of payment, and fourteen demerit points.[@rta2018] Conviction normally brings twelve months' licence disqualification; the court can depart for special reasons or impose a longer ban.[@rta2018] Separately, section 123(j) prohibits smoking ganja while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge on a road, without requiring proof of impairment.[@rta2018] Police list a J$10,000 fixed penalty and two points for that offence; the Act's court maximum is J$20,000, with seven days in default of payment.[@jcftraffic,rta2018] These are distinct penalties. No quantified THC limit was verified in the Act and 2022 Regulations reviewed.[@rta2018,rtaregs2022]
Before the reform of April 2015, Jamaican police arrested about 15,000 people a year for p … t 64 million US dollars a year, according to a case study by Harm Reduction International.[@hri25] After possession of small amounts became a ticketable matter, court cases for possessing o … nt, and criminal cases referred to the courts in 2016 were 25 per cent fewer than in 2014.[@hri25]
Wiktionary — spliff Wiktionary — herb 20 unchanged
word Ganja · lang Jamaican English · meaning The standard Jamaican word for cannabis, brought by indentured labourers from India in the 19th century · sources cjm, word Spliff · lang Jamaican English · meaning A cannabis cigarette; the standard Jamaican term for a joint · sources wiktionary-spliff, word Herb · lang Jamaican English · meaning Cannabis, especially in Rastafari and reggae usage — "the herb" as sacrament and medicine · sources wiktionary-herb