Wine lovers have Napa Valley. Beer snobs have Oregon. And now, potheads may have their own vacation paradise: wandering the lush grounds that perhaps inspired Bob Marley to sing, “let’s get together and feel alright.”
According to a new AP report, tour operators in Jamaica are increasingly taking visitors to see the marijuana farms that produce the local “ganja”—such as spots near Nine Mile, Marley’s hometown, and outside Negril.
Even with the potential buzz-kill undertones (pot has been illegal in Jamaica since 1913), such excursions actually sound like a nice nature tour, laced with fun facts: you can survey the leafy plants, red soil, and learn about interesting varieties of the plant, such as sinsemilla (reportedly Marley’s favorite), “purple kush,” and “pineapple skunk.”
Perhaps taking some cues from pot-legalizing U.S. states such as Colorado and Washington, there is talk of someday legalizing marijuana in Jamaica. Until then, some tour operators are operating pretty cautiously. According to the article, one tour requires more than just a per-person fee, in order to weed out narcs: “After you smoke a spliff with us and we get to know you,” according to a site called Jamaicamax, “then we will take you on the best ganja tours in Jamaica and you’ll smoke (and eat if you want) so much ganja you’ll be talking to Bob Marley himself.”
