On the same ground where their enslaved ancestors were forced to plant sugar cane, Rastafari in this small island nation are now legally growing and ritualistically smoking cannabis
LIBERTA, Antigua — On the same ground where their enslaved ancestors were forced to plant sugar cane, Rastafari in this small island nation are now legally growing and ritualistically smoking marijuana.
On a recent Sunday, he led chants in the tabernacle on the foundation’s farm located in Liberta’s lush agricultural district. Tashi puffed on a corn husk-wrapped joint while others passed chalice pipes and waved Rastafari flags in green, gold and red. “We believe that we have to provide a space for everyone at the table, irrespective of their religion,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press at an interview in the capital city of St. John’s.
The prime minister said that growing up in Antigua, he witnessed how adult Rastafari were chased by police, while children were not allowed in schools because of their hair. Browne also recalled how members of the Rastafari fed him “Ital” meals when his single mother, who had a mental illness, struggled to raise him and his siblings.
Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands granted sacramental rights to cannabis. But Charles Price, a professor at Philadelphia’s Temple University who focuses on Rastafari identity, said that Antigua and Barbuda’s comprehensive initiative could spur more organizing for the sacramental recognition of cannabis in other islands.
During that recent Sunday worship service, the breeze fluttered leaves on the marijuana fields surrounding the stone remnants of a sugar mill.
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