The Ganja Complex

The Ganja Complex

Rastafari and Marijuana

by
Ansley Hamid

LEX I NGTON BOOK S

Lanham • Boulder • New Yo rk • Oxford
 Contents

Acknowledgments V ll

Preface IX

Introduction: Use-Complexes and the Ganja Complex XXI X

LEXINGTON BOOKS

Published in the United States of America Chapter 1 Reviving the Ganja Complex: The Crisis of
by Lexington Books Caribbean African Youth in San Fernando, Trinidad,
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Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Was Diffused 25
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Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ, England Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organizational Underpinnings
of the Ganja Complex 45
Copyright © 2002 by Lexington Books
Chapter 4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 75
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m a retneval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, ChapterS The Ganja Complex, Rastafari, Public Opinion,
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Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn: The Rise and Fall of
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available the Marijuana Complex and the Advent of Cocaine 115
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Chapter 7 The Ganja Complex versus Other Marijuana Use-
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Chapter 8 The Informal Economy 161
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Chapter 9 U .S .-Caribbean Drug Connections 175
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v
vi Contents

Bibliography 193
Index 203 Acknowledgments
About the Author 207

This book incorporates material from my doctoral dissertation, for which I

conducted fieldwork in Trinidad and Tobago in 1975, 1976, 1977, and
1978- 1979 and which I completed writing at Teachers Col lege, Columbia
University, in New York C ity in 1980. 1t also contains additions, revisions ,
and reflections which I inserted in 2000. Accordingly, two rounds of ac-
knowledgments are due.
First, the cooperation and goodwill of the Trinidadian informants during
the periods of field research were indispensable in carrying out this research,
especially when the presence of an outsider renders dangerously conspicuous
gatherings, events, and purposes for which the penalties are stiff fines and
sometimes up to life in prison.
Two exploratory stages of this research, carried out in the summers of 1975
and 1976, were funded by the Institute of Latin American and Iberian Studies,
Columbia University. The major stage of fieldwork in Trinidad in the summer
of 1977 and for fourteen months in 1978 and 1979, and of write-up in New
York City for eight months from 1979 to 1980, were funded by the National in-
stitutes of Mental Health (now the National Institute on Drug Abuse). A gener-
ous scholarship from the Ford Foundation supplemented this support.
Without the sponsorship, advice, and encouragement of Professor Lambros
Comitas of Teachers College, Columbia University, my graduate studies in
anthropology would not have begun , nor would they have been completed.
T he debt of seminal ideas utilized in this report is owed to him and to Dr.
George Bond, also of Colum bia Uni versity.
During the period of write-up, the facilities of Teachers College, Columbia
University, and of the Research Institute for the Study of Man, directed by Dr.
Vera Rubin, were made available to me.

vii
 viii Acknowledgments

My sister Sponse has always been enthusiastic about my studies, giving me

both encouragement and generous financial support. She was especially help-
ful during this research. My sons, Rahul and Jyotin , accompanied me on all
Preface
the field trips to Trinidad: their presence eased my entry into many situations
and gained me enduring friendships. During my fieldwork in New York my
daughte rs, Deshana and Alecia performed the same roles.
A second round of acknowledgments are owed for 2000. Professors Comi-
ta~ and Bond , my teachers at Teachers College, Columbia Uni versi ty, main-
tained the encouragement and friendship I have always received from them .
My experience as a professor of anthropology at the John Jay ColJege of Crim-
inal Justice, my interaction with thousands of students in the fifteen years af-
ter my return from the field, and professional engagements enriched my un-
derst_anding of drugs and their relation to culture and society. Additionally,
fundmg from several sources, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Professional Staff Congress
of the City University of New York, assisted me in furthering my research on I have tried to combine several distinct but related themes in this book. It will
drugs. I particularly wish to thank Ms. Karen Colvard of the Harry Frank help the reader to be introduced briefly to them at the start.
Guggenheim Foundation for her unflagging enthusiasm for my work. First, the book is about a plant , cannabis or marijuana, its effects upon men,
In research projects on cocaine during the 1990s, I emphasized the con- and some of the political battles which have been engaged for and against it.
tn:lsts ~~tween t~e cocaine-smoking epidemic of that decade and the regime This plant is an excessively luxuriant, weedy annual which sometimes towers
of mariJUana which had preceded it and which forms the topic of this book. to a height of over eighteen feet. Since it thrives best in the worked, nitrogen-
Two major grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, entitled "Heroin rich soils near human habitations, it has followed human settlement far be-
in the 2 1st Century" ( 1996) and " International Drug Markets Convergence" yond it-; original ranges. Indeed, given it<> near-universal popularity today, it
(1997) , broadened my perspective by enabling me to investigate new situa- could well be among the first cultivens of the planet earth which scientists
tions ~nd different drugs. I was also able to renew contact with study partici- and astronauts will introduce (albeit clandestinely and maybe illegally) to
pants m New York and Trinidad and to learn how marijuana, cocaine, and outer space. The plant is dioecious: the weaker male or staminate plant is dif-
other drugs had affected them in drug-using (or drug-avoiding) careers which ferentiated from the female or pistillate plant. On the latter, pistillate flowers
had extended over some twenty years. grow in the leaf axils. A resin produced in these flowers and their adjacent
leaves and stems contains intoxicating chemical compounds (Abel 1980).
A plant of considerable antiquity, native to India and China and reputedly
the first to be cultivated by settled human communities, it was eventually dif-
fused widely throughout the Old World (Abel 1980; Bennett et al. 1995 ).
Asians, Europeans , Arabs, and Africans developed multiple household, in-
dustrial , medicinal, religious, and ritual uses for its various preparations .
While some Old World political regimes proscribed them, or tolerated them
begrudgingly, they were mostly e mbraced enthusiastically.
While botanists have disagreed about the family to which the plant be-
longs, sometimes classifying it among the fig or mulberry family (Moraceae)
or the nettle family (Urticaceae), it is now regarded, together with the hop
plant (Humulus), as belonging to a distinct family (Cannabaceae). Following
Linnaeus, two varieties of the plant, cannabis sativa and cannabis indica , are

ix.
 Preface . Prefac e xi
X

commonly recognized. This classification, however, has been challenged. career diplomat , Anslinger used the marijuana issue to revive his fortu~es in
Problems of plant collection in Linnaeus's time probably limited the identifi- governmental service . Under his direction, an official picture of manJUana
cation of other variants. Recognizing the need for investigating wild cannabis was drawn, in which the drug was held responsible for the poverty and moral
in its native habitats, Richard E. Schultes, the renowned Harvard ethno- apathy of native peoples. such as Mexican farm laborers, and posed a threat
botanist , has complete ly revised cannabis taxonomy. Informed by his own to American users. Anslinger e ncouraged the making of Reefer Madness. a
field studies , the work of Lamarck , and the observations of Soviet botani sts, film showi ng how an upright European American youth embarke.d ~n. a l i~'e
Schultes introduced a polytypic classification (Schultes 1975). of rape and crime after a single puff of marijuana . Now a cult claSSIC, tt IS stJII
Many organic chemical compounds have been isolated in cannabis, only shown regularly at 3:00 A.M. on some television networks, along Wtth Japa~­
some of them having narcotic properties, such as cannabidiolic acids. precursors ese monster movies. Occurring simultaneously wi th the ri se of xenophobiC
of the tetrahydrocannabinols, cannabinol , cannabidiol, tetrahydrocannabinol- sentiments against Mexican migrant workers , Anslinger's campaign resulted
carboxylic acid , stereoisimers of tetrahydrocannabinol, and cannabichromene. in severe penalties again st the possession , use , and cultivation of marij u~na.
It has been demonstrated that the main psychoactive effects are attributable to The increase in marijuana use during the late 1960s and early 1970s ra1sed
delta- 1-tetrahydrocannabinol, a nonnitrogenous organic compound derived hopes that the sanctions again st marijuana would be reversed. Several publi-
from terpenes. 1 cations proved that the drug's dangers had bee n previously ex~ggerated , and
Of the two commonly recogni zed varieties, cannabis indica is the smaller advocated that the country's marijuana laws be made more lement (Solomon
plant which thrives in cooler climates , such as are found in the upper slopes !966; Kaplan 1970; Grinspoon 1971 ; Brecher 1972). In Canada a~d th.e
of mountains. Selection for narcotic properties, especially in India. has United Kingdom , governmental commissions also favo red re form of man-
yielded many subvarieties. The potent modern sinsemilla varietals (literally, juana laws. In the United States , three presidential commissions - the Pretty-
"withoin seed," or intensively culti vated marij uana requiring advanced tec h- man Commission appointed by President Kennedy in 1963, the Katzenbach
niques such as hydroponics and careful tending, such as the separation of fe- Commission appointed by President Johnson in 1966, and the Shafer Com-
male plants) are grown from strains of cannabis indica. mission appoi nted by President Nixon in 1972 - recommended aba~donme~t
Cannabis sativa is a tall . bushy lowland plant , better adapted to tropical of a strict prohibitionist policy against what they considered a relattvely sate
heat and rain. Subvarieties of cannabis sativa have been developed princi- mind-altering drug. Heeding them , the federal government and many states
pally to improve fiber and oil content. Camwbis sativa was introduced to the reduced the penalties for marijuana possession in the 1970s . Alaska fully de-
New World by Spanish conquistadors in the fifteenth century. Until the twen- criminalized possession , and in many jurisdictions around the country, de
tieth century, it was apparently grown in America for he mpen fibers, cloths, facto decriminalization existed.
and seeds. Americans for the most part were ignorant of the tinctures, gums, Several important anthropological studies of the effects of marijuana in
and other medicinal preparations of the plant described in Old World phar- natural settings, pioneering the social-scientific approach in dru g research,
macopeias. Marijuana smoking for recreational purposes or as a religious strengthened the antiprohibitionist cause. The first and most reno:-ned of
sacrament and its use as a food were brought in the mid-I X40s to the Ameri- these was Ganja in Jamaica , in which anthropologists not only studied ma~­
cas via the Caribbean by Indian laborers. who had been indentured to replace ijuana c ultivation , distribution . use , and effects in six distinct rural commum-
emancipated African labor in the region's sugarcane plantations (Hamid ties in Jamaica. but also referred their informants to the University ofthe West
1980, 1997a; Weller 1972; Morton 191 6) . They were bearers of the original Indies Medical School, where exhaustive tests were performed to assess their
"ganja complex" whose modern manifestation I describe in this book. Mexi- physiological and neurological functioning (Rubin and Comitas 1975). Stu-
can, Jamaican , and African American laboring populations quickly appreci- dents of Vera Rub in and Lambros Comitas, the anthropologists who directed
ated the value of this psychotrope; hy the 1880s, it had also acquired a fol - the Jamaican study, subsequently wrote ste llar ethnographies of marijuana
lowing among European Americans. use in Costa Rica and Greece. Their conclusions echoed those of the Indian
Marijuana in the Americas had escaped prohibition in 1914, when interna- Hemp Drugs Commission ( 1894) that long-term marijuana use was a boon in
tional conventions outlawed the use and cultivation of many psychotropic the lives of laborers in the many parts of India where its members had con-
substances. It was criminalized in 1937 , however, mostly at the instigation of ducted investigations. The commission specifically refuted claims that mari-
Commissioner Harry Anslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. A failed juana use was associated with an " amotivational syndrome" which robbed
 xii Preface Preface xiii

men of ambition and prevented them from working . Indeed , members of the this a patient can grow as many as forty-eight flowering plants and ninety-six
commission reported quite the opposite effects. This anthropological report nonflowering plants indoors, or thirty flowering plants and sixty nonflower-
about marijuana cultivation, distribution, and use in Trinidad and Tobago is ing plants outdoors.2
the most recent descendant of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission and Other states. such as Ohio and Connecticut, may revise their laws in
Ganja in Jamaica, the author having been a grateful student of both Profes- light of the actions of these ordinary American citizens in California and
sors Comitas and Rubin . Arizona . Medical marijuana initiatives a re on the ballot in the District of
The Reagan administration of the 1980s de molished these expectations. Columbia, Nevada , Oregon , and Washington State . In Hawaii, a federal
The "war on drugs" was engaged with redoubled energy and money. Crop court judge is considering whether Rastafari is a bona fide religion . of
substitution and eradication programs were initiated in marijuana-growing which marijuana use and cultivation are cornerstones , and whether the
countries abroad, while full -scale military assaults were conducted against case against a female Rastafari for c ultivating a few marijuana plants for
domestic growers in California and Hawaii. Spurred by Nancy Reagan's "Just personal use should be dismissed according to the Restoration of Reli-
s.a~ No" campaign and her intransigent attitudes against marijuana, antidrug gious Freedoms Act of 1995.3 The struggle to decriminalize or legalize
c1ttzens' organizations proliferated. marijuana has been championed by influential private citizens nation-
At the same time, however, marijuana cultivators worldwide, and espe- wide.4
cially in the Americas and the Caribbean, significantly improved their horti- At the same time, supporters of the "war on drugs" have not been idle.
cultural and entrepreneurial skiJls and succeeded in bringing to market a more Both drug czar Barry McCaffrey and former Drug Enforcement Adminis-
potent, better-preserved product, including the sinsemillas and other variants tration administrator Thomas Constantine have warned doc tors who attempt
of cannabis indica mentioned above. An international fair is still convened to comply with the sentiments of Arizonans and Californians that they
annually in Amsterdam, where seeds and techniques are exchanged. would face charges under the federal laws governing cultivation and sale of
Since the 1990s, hopes have revived again that the prohibition against mar- marijuana and the DEA regulations which guide them in prescribing con-
ijuana in the United States will soon be modified or revoked. Californian vot- trolled substances . They reminded potential offenders that based on the
ers supported a "medical marijuana" initiative in 1996. Subsequently, the 1988 U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psy-
Drug Medicalization, Prevention, and Control Act, which was supported by chotropic Substances, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
65 percent of the Arizona electorate in 1997, actually sought to "medicalize" claims that all nations are obliged to e nact laws that prohibit inciting or in-
that state's drug policy. Disallowing further incarceration of nonviolent drug ducing people "by any means" to "use narcotic drugs or psychotropic sub-
offenders, it mandated dmg treatment and probation instead and permitted stances illicitly." According to the INCB 's report. offenders include anyone
doctors to prescribe marijuana for the relief of a wide range of health prob- who "shows illicit use in a favorable light" or who advocates "a change in
lems , including AIDS, cancer, and glaucoma. the drug law."
On August 13 , 1998, the Oakland City Council named the operators of the They noted that the lNCB 's report criticizes "reputable medical journals"
Oakland Cannabis Buyers Clu b (CBC) "officers of the c ity." This title was in- for "favoring the 'medical' use of cannabis," since " such information ...
tended to give them immunity from federal prosecution under the Controlled tends to generate an overall climate of acceptance that is favorable to" illegal
Substances Act because they would be "agents of law enforcement" oversee- drug use. The report also attacks the marketing of nonpsychoacti ve hemp
ing the distribution of medical marijuana, according to 21 USC 885 (d). The products, such as clothing and foodstuffs, for "contributing to the overall
Council also voted to increase the amount of medical marijuana that patients promotion of illicit drugs."
can possess to an amount twenty-four times the maximum that had been es- The new director of the U.N. Drug Control Program , Pino Arlacchi , de-
tablished by California attorney general Dan Lundgren in 1996. The decision clared in 1997 that he was determined to make the world "drug-free in ten
allowed patients who live in Oakland and use medical marijuana to possess years ." He has begun by attacking advocates of drug policy reform. 5
up to one and a half pounds of marijuana, an amount which the FDA consid- The subject matter of this book should interest partisans on both sides. In
ers a three-month supply. Lundgren's limit had permitted possession of up to the late 1960s and during the 1970s, desperate young Trinidadian Africans,
one ounce. If patients grow their own marijuana, they are permitted to have both on the islands and in immigrant communities abroad, had been stalemated
up to six pounds of marijuana. The City Council decided that in addition to by the frustrations of exclusion from the educational system and job training,
 Preface XV
xiv Preface

unemployment in an increasingly consumerist society, high rates of inflation, Thus, after exhaustively describing in the firs t six chapters how the differ-
ntigration, and disarrayed families. They had responded by committing petty ent outgrowths of the ganja complex broke ground in Trinidad and the
crimes and mi susing alcohol and eventually by rioting and an attempted over- Caribbean of the 1970s, 1 shall have the evidence to argue in chapter 8 that
throw of the government. Then they discovered marijuana. Smoking it in com- marijuana had had perceptible effects on young islanders as a concentrate of
munal settings utterly transformed them. They metamorphosed into prudent, am- ongoing social and economic dynamisms. They had provided the needed
bitious businessmen , self-employed artisans, and responsibk paterfamilias, who nourishment for the ganja complex to take root in the first place.
delighted in reading the Bible , scholarly books, and the newspapers and philos- Third, in attempting to reach the first two goals, the book alludes to key
ophizing about what they learned by cross-referencing them. Furthermore, they anthropological issues . It documents the survival and diffusion of a cultural
translated their revolutionary sentiments into a program of community better- pattern across time and nations. Originating some 5,000 years ago in North-
ment, in which they reinvested marijuana revenues to foster self-sufficiency or ern India. a distinctive ganja complex was established throughout the Indian
independence from mainstream institutions. subcontinent. Over several succeedin g centuries , associated with the spread
Whether, in the twenty-first century, the United States will remain a nation of other Indian cultura l products such as Hinduism and Buddhism, it took
in which respectable, productive, otherwise law-abiding adults can face the root el sewhere in southeast Asia. Next, it was carried , from 1838 to 1917,
risk of arrest, public humiliation, imprisonment, loss of employment, family to the Americas when Indian laborers were indentured to the British
distress, and asset forfeiture for possessing small amounts of marijuana, or for Caribbean to replace emancipated African labor on the sugarcane planta-
growing a single marijuana plant, now appears to be not a foregone conclu- tions. In most of the Caribbean colonies to which the Indians were intro-
sion but a matter of widening public debate. 1 hope that my demonstration of duced, such as Trinidad, Suriname and Guyana, the ganja complex withered
how marijuana fortified men leading embattled lives wiJI help promote the within a few decades, and the use and cultivation of marijuana virtually dis-
needed reappraisal of the nation 's drug policy. appeared. ln Jamaica, however, the ganja complex rapidly became endemic,
Second, a related goal of the book, of course, will be to illuminate how not only among its Indian bearers but, more remarkably, among rural and
drugs, in this case a mere handful of dried twigs, can possibly have those urban Africans, who had tenaciously maintained their own African tradi-
"magical" effects it appeared to have had in successive human populations, tions . sometimes syncretized or camouflaged with elements of the Judeo-
such as the young Caribbean Africans to be discussed particularly in this Christian symbology, throughout more than four centuries of slavery and
book. The claims of both those who approve or tolerate marij uana use and social marginalization. Adapting the ganja complex to concordance with
those who condemn it- if they take the form of "marijuana turned them into their ancestral folkways, including traditions of millenarianism and mes-
demons" or "marijuana turned them into angels" - are equally implausible to sianism, they have subscribed faithfully and continuously to it for over 150
social scientists, who as a rule eschew monocausal (and plainly fantastical!) years to the present day.
explanations for complex human behaviors. The saga of thi s ancient Asian ganja complex was refueled in the 1960s.
Working within the anthropological paradigm. I place the emphasis in the By this time, Caribbean immigrant communities had been established in
human-drug interaction not on the drug , but on the human. For the most part, many urban centers in the United States , Canada, and Europe, such as New
groups create the effects drugs have on their members. Thus in this book I il- York, Montreal, London, Paris, and Amsterdam. Young Caribbean Africans
lustrate the view that drugs affect humans for better or for worse, not prima- in Caribbean nations other than Jamaica , including Trinidad, Guyana, and
ril y as pharmacological substances but rather as symbols, as meanings or parts Suriname , as well as their peers in the Caribbean immigrant populations ,
of meaningful lifestyles, as the medium of exchange in informal economies, now welcomed it. They in turn planted it among their local neighbors , such
and as icons into which are packed the social-organizational energies of those as African Americans. L atinos, Canadians , the British, and Northern Euro-
involved in their production, distribution, and consumption. Accordingly, I peans.
identify a "ganja complex ," one which 1 later contrast with other marijuana In a final twist, the ganja complex has even returned home. lt has been
use-complexes in Trinidad (for example " madi-juana" use: see chapter 7) , as rediffused recently to young fifth-generation indians from Trinidad, Suri-
responsible for the benign effects I report, and explain how its charters for be- name and Guyana, some living in the Caribbean immigrant communities
lief, cognition, and action were transferred cross-culturally across the globe , to abroad, whose great-grandparents and grandparents had spurned it after de-
be nurtured in contexts quite foreign to the one where it originated. barking from India.
xvi Preface Preface xvii

Fourth, the foc us on the ganja complex, or on the drug in its cultural- readily applicable to the multicultural Uni ted States of America than to the
psychological-political-socioeconomic context rather than on marijuana, the other Caribbean islands.
pharmacological substance, marks a major preoccupation. The study of the What all these peripheral territories of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the
diffusion of a cultural pattern, and of its evolutionary forms in the diverse Caribbean share , however, are informal economies which coexist with the
contexts in which it was cultivated, provides comparati ve insight of the so- formal. corporate economy, subsidi zing the latter with important values .
cial, economic, cultural, and political conditions in which psychological and goods, and services. In the 1960s, researchers in Latin America, Asia, and
pharmacological agents interact and combine to produce drug-related effects Africa reported these sectors of urban economic enterprise which participated
in humans . It thus supplies an anthropological corrective to the prevailing in the overall economy. but were at the same time distinct from it. For exam-
psychopharmacological paradigm in drug studies. ple, in Trinidad and Tobago and Rio de Janeiro, a small army of workers are
The revision of this psychopharmacological paradigm, which has pro- mobilized, for at least six months in the year. to produce their world-famous
vided the scientific justification for the "war on drugs," has been long over- carnivals. Indeed, the Trinidad carnival has been integrated with tledgling
due. In the case of marijuana, it has cluttered the public consciousness with ones on the other islands and in Caribbean African communities throughout
a fearsome melange of half-truths and outright fal sehoods . Beginning in the North America and Europe , and provides year-round employment (Hamid
1930s with the deliberate and opportunistic lies of Harry Anslinger, the 1983a) . Independently of banks and other official institutions, the carnival
campaign has included the pseudoscientific studies of Nahas ( 1975), which personnel provide the financial and fiduciary services , researchers, a clerk-
linked marijuana smoking to chromosomal loss and organic brain damage; dam and the many types of artisans, costumers, and musicians to produce the
o f Kolanski and Moore (197 1), who identified a "cannabis psychosis"; and event , which may last from a single day to a week . In other Catholic capitals
the Chopras (1968) , who, in the midst of the Vietnam War, frighte ned in Latin America, year-long employme nt is provided for food vendors , man-
Americans with the intensity of the disaffection, rebellion, and the "amoti- ufacturers of religious relics, and ritual specialists who cater to the feast days
vational syndrome" which they claimed to have discovered amo ng of several saints . Hindu India employs a similar labor force to celebrate a
American marijuana smokers traveling in India as "hippies" and "flower bursting calendar of national, regional, and religious holidays . In Southeast
children." Asia, the kitchens and kitchen gardens of city homeowners are factories
F1jt h , as it is anthropological and based on extensive ethnographic field- where bean curd , condiments , pickles , and other foodstuffs are prepared for
work, the book is concerned with Trinidad , Caribbean Africans, Asians in local and international markets.
the Caribbean, interethnic relations in Caribbean society, Caribbean mi- Sidewalks along streets in major third-world cities are thronged with unli-
gration to New York City, and the present status of these island communi- censed vendors selling goods of every description , and the trend extends to
ties in the modern world system. Several considerations are due in this New York City, where over 10,000 sidewalk vendors operate throughout the
regard: year. They congregate especially in midtown , in Chinatown , and at Africa
Thus, while Trinidad and Tobago, the site of this ethnographic research Square (125th Street and Lenox Avenue) in Harlem. On Labor Day, or
and the islands specifically studied, are Caribbean societies, participating in Caribbean American Day, thousands more line Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
the same common history of plantation slavery as the other islands, they are More recentl y, Mexicans and Central Americans have installed curbside
in some respects quite unique. For example , the sovereignty of Trinidad and taquerfas in midtown Manhattan and in the city's Latino communities. In the
Tobago had changed hands more frequently than the other islands, and thus cities of the third world , many necessities of life - food . shelter, clothing,
exhibits the legacy of Briti sh, French , and Spanish not only in the cosmo- medical care, spiritual and mental therapy. education, entertainment-are
politan composition of the population , but in enduring customs and quasi- completely satisfied by self-made tinkers, tailors, cooks, builders, artists,
legal institutions. While most other Caribbean islands, such as Haiti, the "quacks,'' or other service providers.
Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua , Dominica , or the Fre nch and Dutch islands, Some theorists, relying on a broad definition of informal sector activity, in-
have homogeneous African populations, the advent of large numbers of clude the "criminal" or underground economy as part of this sector (e.g ., Mat-
Asians, both Chinese and Indians, has also given Trinidad and Tobago the tera 1985; Gaughan and Ferman 1987), while others reserve the term to ap-
sort of atmosphere of such territories as Mauritius, Reunion, Fiji, or the ply properly only to "income-generating ac tivities that take place outside the
Philippines. Indeed, lessons drawn from Trinidad and Tobago are more framework of public regulation , where similar activities are regulated"
xviii PT£jace Preface XIX

(Sassen~Koob 1991, 89). For example, a great many enterprises in the infor- In Bolivia, where 80 percent of the entire economy is based on the pro-
mal economic sector are illegal and carry the disability for their proprietors duction and export of coca, the informal economy has surpassed the formal
of being unceremoniously removed from the place of business, goods and all , economy and dom inates economic and pol itical life (C raig 1990). Coca cul-
by the police. Technically, the sale of goods offered by street vendors and the ti vation and cocaine production have penetrated and bolstered existing infor-
services provided by doctors or dentists who practice without licenses, or the mal economic-sector activities to the point where the size of illegal transac-
reli gious services rendered by ritual specialists whom the state has not recog- tions is equivalen t to the balance of trade (Jiminez 1989).
ni zed , could be undertaken in the formal economy. Criminal activities, how- In the United States. estimates of the size of the inforn1al economy vary
ever, including the distribution of drugs, arc differentiated by their exclusion from $42 billion to $369 billion (Gunman 1977; Feige 1979; Mattera 1985;
from other economic sectors. This study adopts the tirst, more inclusive def- McCrohan and Smith 1986). A recent survey of the cash exchange component
inition of informal-sector acti vity; especially in regard to the feature s de- of the informal economy (which ignored drug distri but ion and sales and other
scribed below. there is little to choose between selling drugs or selling criminal activities) estimated informal expenditures at $42 bill ion, suggesting
peanuts at a street comer in Harle m or Flatbush. that the informal economy accounts for approximately I I .5 percent of all do-
Thus, several features of this sector distingu ish it from the formal or cor- mestic transactions (McCrohan and Smith 1986). While these estimates are
porate capitali st econom ic sector. Enterprises in the informal sector tend to be generall y regarded as unreliable (Pones and Sassen-Koob 1987), a growing
small and locally based, usually employing fewer than fifteen workers. Sev- body of research indicates that informal-sector activities in major cities in the
eral economic indices distinguish such businesses from similarly sized, United States have expanded considerably over the last decade (Sassen-Koob
small-scale capitalist enterprise. They are modestly capitalized . Wages are ad- 1989). Although illegal or the object of various forms of offic ial suppression .
justed to provide bare self-suffic iency for workers. Many exchanges are by the info rmal economic sector abides in a symbiotic relation w ith the fo rmal
barter rather than by cash. Access to labor is furni shed by appeal to folk cul- sector (He nry I 988). Poorl y paid workers in the latter survive from day to day.
ture, or by kinship and ethnic ideologies. Redistribution of wealth, or capital and are deterred from labor unrest, because the informal-economic sector pro-
redeployment, is regulated by the same informal contracts which bind labor. vides them with cheap or affordable goods and services. Retired workers are
Some ente rprises , however, bring affluence and political clout to their heavily reliant on them to make ends meet. And meantime, in the preparation
proprietors. In Ghana and Nigeria , market women are sources of substantial of goods and services. manpower is trained and developed , wi thout costing
credit and sponsor youth groups or other voluntary associations which government training programs or educational resources, and capital is accu-
sometimes assume overt political function s. In South Africa and Angola, mulated which may eventually be incorporated into the formal sector.
"shebeens." or ''yards" where women brew and sell beer. and where the On the other side of the coin , the availability of capital through sources other
beer is consumed nightl y by crowds of males , have also been the centers of than the legally recognized ones, and of labor earning less than the mini mum
political acti vism in the two countries. In Jama ica. " higglers," or itinerant legal wage (if necessary) is an important prerequisite, when the entrepreneur is
female vendors who link kitchen gardens in the remote countryside with ur- uncouth, without creditworthiness, and lacking in accredited business and man-
ban households, also transfer politically sensiti ve inform ation and serve as agerial sk ills, for that thrust into the mainstream world. An immigrant espe-
creditors in a mixed portfolio of rural a nd urban business undertakin gs cially must first usc cousins, coreligionists, or his ethnic ties in order to become
(Katzin 1959). later an employer who uses employees (Ianni 1972; Light 1972).
In Italy, where estimates suggest that the informal economy represents The coexistence of capitalist enterprise wi th other forms of economic ac-
about 30 percent of GNP (Mattera 1985) , Sicil y hosts an informal economic tivity originates in the thirtee nth and fou rteenth centuries, when the former
sector sufficiently large to support a "development elite," which controls was being established. W hen capitalist entrepreneurs were initiating such
large voting blocs. agricultural holdings , and entreprene urial concerns. The capitalist forms of enterprise as cattle herding and the urban economics in
"development e lite" is opposed to the "modernization elite," which recruits Western Europe, Eastern Europe experienced its "second fe udalism." To sup-
from urban professionals and administrators . While the former approves eco- ply Western Europe with grai n and other foodstuffs made scarce by the capi-
nomic programs for Sicily which emphasize indigenous wealth. talents, and talist novelties in land use, feuda l arrangements in Eastern Europe were dou-
skills, the latter believe that economic growth means greater reliance upon bly enforced (and with unprecedented cruelty) in a drive to increase
foreign capital and management (Schneider, Schneider, and Hansen 1972). agricultural production (Malowist 1972).
XX Preface Pn~(ace XX I

The reciprocal relationship has continued between the formal corporate the West are forced into low-paying ser vice jobs and the informal economy
sector of the economy and informal economies as capitalist forms of enter- (Partes and Sassen-Koob 1987). However, while many different kinds of ac-
prise took root throughout the world. (Meillassoux 1981 ; Long 1984). In the tivities are suited to informalization , it is the boundaries of state regulation
Americas, the informal economic system has had a special significance for that determine inforrnalization rather than the characteristics of particular ac-
the African population, among whom it originated in the plot of land planters tivities: the informal economy " is a highly opportunistic process with chang-
ceded to slaves four centuries ago. Although the planters intended to reduce ing boundaries" that can only be understood by reference to "the basic dy-
their operating costs by prodding slaves to feed themselves, the latter cher- namics that induce informalizatio n" (Sassen-Koob 1991. 89).
ished the land as a free space, where African traditions could be revived. They It was boosted tremendously in value in the 1980s by the cocaine economy
also built a complex internal marketing system by exchanging their agricul- originating in the Andean nations of South America. These drug economies
tural produce. This backbone still supports local trade and rural-urban ex- offer a fruitful arena for future investigations of the phases of informal
changes in contemporary Haiti and Jamaica. economies and their relation to the corporate world.
In the United States, the shift to informalization has necessitated a restruc- Finally, migration and U.S .- Caribbean interconnections and relationships
turing of relationships between core and periphery workers. Much agricultural are critical to an understanding of the marijuana economy and to the uses to
production now uti! izes the mix of labor provided by illegal immigrants, home- which Caribbean peoples put the drug. A nodal point of contemporary
less populations. and drug users. Recently in New York , a famous fashion de- Caribbean culture and society is Brookl yn , which many claim as the " largest
signer was arrested for maintaining a sweatshop of Latino seamstresses in the Caribbean territory" rather than part of the American polity. Here Jamaicans ,
Bronx who were undocumented aliens. To produce her prize-winning fashions, Haitians , Trinidadians, and immigrants from every other territory share
therefore , this designer depended upon the labor of her distributors like Bloom- neighborhoods; cooperate or compete for employment, housing, and privi-
ingdale's and upon unionized garment workers and truckers. But the profit leges; interact interpersonally; and are forging a contemporary regional iden-
margins of the whole enterprise rested upon " unfree ," " noncompeting" labor in tity which will resonate substantially in the political spectrum of New York
the informal sector. Much of agricultural production in the United States also City. No contemporary consideration of Trinidad and Tobago or of the
utilizes this mix of labor. Indeed, the candidacies of two persons for high gov- Caribbean Basin and Circum-Caribbean region is possible, therefore, unless
ernmental offices in the Clinton administration were disqualified because their they are placed in the hemispheric context, dominated by the United States,
housekeepers belonged to this category of workers. and in the even broader perspective of global society, economics, and politics.
Today, both the formal and informal economic sectors are integrated inter- What a drug cultivator in Trinidad and Tobago docs may be determined by
nationally and respond to global cycles of expansion and depression (Waller- what persons he knows in Brooklyn do, and their actions in turn are those of
stein 1974). Corporate, capita list enterpri se is an international entity in which Americans contending in a global community.
multinational corporations perform crucial functions . Entities such as the An important (and sinister) aspect of these U.S.- Caribbean interconnec-
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund unite them formally. The tions concerns law enforcement and the establishment of a global police
bloc of nations in which it is represented now includes the republics of for- regime (Nadelmann 1990). The "war on drugs" waged by the United States
mer Soviet Russia and the Eastern European nations. In these latter countries, has furthered the careers of questionable policies and persons abroad . The
conditions are ripe for the growth of local segments of the informal economy, murders described in chapter 5 are a gory outcome.
which has also become an international entity. One of its main pillars, the In this book, the reader will be taken back and forth between the Caribbean
drug trade, wh ich orchestrates the efforts of growers in rura l parts of the and the mainland United States. While potentially confusing , these passages
world , those of processors and importers in several countries , and finally portray the reality. l have tried to develop my skills as a writer so that these
those of distributors in capital cities, exemplifies its transnational, multicul- movement<> and the se veral themes they engage are harmoniously blended .
tural character.
On a global level, the trend toward informalization has been accelerated by
Methods
economic recession and the transition to a postindustrial service economy
(Sassen-Koob 1989). Global multinational corporations utilize workers in the In April 1977, the National Institute on Drug Abuse funded a research ap-
third world to produce their products at subsistence wages while workers in plication I had submitted , entitled "Synchronic and Diachronic Variations in
 Pnface Puface XX III
xxii

Cannabis Usc Among East Indians in Trinidad" (Grant No. DA 0 1838). The ( I) an enclave of Indian sugar workers li ving on the outskirts of the com-
objectives of this study were twofold: (I ) to investigate the conditions which munity which also included a quasi-segregated group of Indian landed pro-
led to the virtual abandonment of cannabis use among Indians in Trinidad at prietors who cultivate sugarcane on contract for multi national sugar estates;
the turn of the century. even though they had introduced their long-established (2) a neighborhood in the heart of Princes Town inhabited by an ethnically di-
knowledge and use of the substance only fifty years earlier; and (2) to describe verse population which was also sharpl y stratified socioeconomically.
and account for the present-day readoption of cannabis use in Trinidad by sev- By the end of these two field sessions in Raw Deal and Princes Town, or a to-
eral categories of younger Indians. tal of six months of fieldwork , J had achieved a relative ly clear comprehension
To reach these objectives, two major research components were visualized: of the context of ganja use in both rural and urban settings in Trinidad.
(I) archival research on earl y Indian cannabis or ganja usage utiliz ing the ex- During an eleven-month period straddling 1977 and 1978, the fieldwork
tensive documents housed in the Parliamentary Library, the West Indian Ref- foc us shifted to San Fernando, not only the second-largest city but also the
erence Library. and the Law Library in Port-of-Spain , the capital o f Trinidad " industrial capital" of Trinidad. I selected this city primarily because of the
and Tobago , and those more recently collected in San Fernando, the second- large concentration of Indians who had been settling there since the earliest
largest city of the nation and the most important Chri sti an mission to Trinida- days of the Indian indenture. It is also my birthplace. For the first four
dian Indians, by the Presbyterian Church; and (2) soc ial anthropological in- months, research was carried out in San Fernando which paralleled that com-
vestigations of contemporary Indian cannabi s use. The latte r theme was to pleted in Raw Deal and Princes Town in order to provide the project withes-
entail (a) the measurement of the extent of cannabis use; (b) the delineation sential data on urban cannabis patterns . With the completion of this phase, the
of users' networks. particul arl y with respect to buying , selling , and consump- gross parameters in Trinidadian ganja use in rural and urban settings had been
tion of ganja and of differentiations among these networks; (c) the recording identified . I then devoted the remaining seven months in the field to under-
of beliefs, rituals, and j ustifications related to ganja use among the various standing the complexity and dynamics o f the Trinidadian ganja phenomenon
categories of Indian users; and (d) the selection of informants, users, and non- throu gh the intensive study of the origins and consequences of marijuana use
users from whose accounts life histories and case studies could be con- and distribution among San Fernandian users by focusing on the operation of
structed . key ne tworks of urban users and distributors .
During the course o f the NIDA-funded research and two earlier ex- To add a necessary dimension to the overall study, I spent several weeks in
ploratory field sessions sponsored by the Institute of Latin American and 1975 , 1976, and 1978 in residence in a cannabis-growing village close to the
Iberian Studies, Columbia University, all of these research goals plus anum- rain forests in South Trinidad and made many daylong expeditions to this lo-
ber of others were reached and a rich body of pertinent data was amassed . cale in the company of urban ganja dealers who had traveled there from San
A short natural hi story of the Trinidad project is as follo ws: Fernando to buy marijuana wholesale . During these visits , I interviewed the
During a three-month period in 1975, I carried out a detailed study of a rural leading local growers and dealers. observed and di scussed various aspects of
village , with the pseudonym of Raw Deal. This community contains a popula- growing and marketing, and investigated village patterns of use .
tion almost equall y divided between Indians and A fricans. A thorough house- Attention should be drawn here to the peculiar demands of participant ob-
hold census of Raw Deal yie lded data on differential patterns of social stratifi- servation - the most distingui shably anthropological of the field methods em-
cation , land tenure, and economic levels. 1 carefull y investigated patterns of ployed in this study - in researching ganja in Trinidad . where use is sensitive
cannabis production , distribution , and consumption . This initial, community- politicall y and heavil y proscribed. Throughout the entire period of fieldwork ,
w ide research provided a substantial basis for hypothesis construction and for absolute discretion was required in locating users and traffickers and in trac-
planning the overall design and methodology of the research that followed. ing out the networks between them, while at the same time maintaining con-
During a three-month period in 1976 . 1 undertook fieldwork in a more di- tact and collecting data among nonusers. During the seven months of research
versified , more urban site than that afforded in Raw Deal. In this locale , in San Fernando, key informants selected for interviews on various aspects of
Princes Town , a comm unity in South Trinidad rapidly emerging fro m its ru- ganja traffic king (including the police involveme nt) and for the collection of
ral roots , I identified networks of cannabis users and studied and recorded life histories, were persuaded to allow these data to be tape-recorded. The
patterns of cannabi s trade and consumption . I singled out two geographical success of this operation relied heavily on m y credentials as a San Fernandian
sections of Princes Town for detailed scrutiny: and as an age-mate, neighbor, and fri end.
xxiv Preface Prej(lce XXV

These tape-recorded conversations, rich in relevant detail and conveying Again , in th is regard , I quickly discovered that different populations were
some of the ambiance of the field, are given a prominent place in this book. reporting di tferent effects on behavior as a consequence of regul ar daily use
Eventually forty ninety-minute tapes were considered for inclusion: these (approximately five to ten joints daily) . A ganja complex, remi niscent of
were transcribed by myself and a Trinidadian assistant. It should be noted that that de scribed in Ganja in Jamaica, in which religiopolitical elements pre-
our familiarity with the language spoken in the tapes adds to the accuracy of dominated, was being differentiated from a madi-juana complex , which fea-
the transcripts. tured polydrug use and recreational settings . These differe nces seemed to be
As time permitted during the entire field research period . I completed expressed in the segregations and distinctions arising in urban ganj a mar-
archival research in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando. Pertinent documents re- kets, which were dominated by Africans . It appeared again, therefore, that
lated to cannabis were reproduced or hand-copied. newspaper files were care- in any serio us disc ussion of effects, a logically earl y step in the research had
fully combed, and special attention was paid to the collection of materials to be the collection of data on all aspects of African use . Furt hermore, the
dealing with the legal status of cannabis in Trinidad from 1863 to the present. picture of the ganja traffic that began to emerge in the prel iminary analysis
These diverse documents proved exceptionally useful during the analytic and of its place among the economic strategies of the lower-class or unem-
phase of the project. ployed Trinidadian Africans who were the chief users bore a remarkable re-
Analysis of the Trinidad data commenced in September 1978 in the offices semblance to the picture suggested by accounts of early Indian use and traf-
of the Joint Program of Applied Anthropology at Teachers College, Columbia ficking in Trinidad , when income generated from ganja was one very
University. During this phase, 1 made extensive use of the facilities of the uni- effecti ve form of leverage out of the despised status of ''indentured Indian
versity as well as the excellent Caribbean and drug-related library collections agricultural laborer."
of the Research Institute for the Study of Man, New York City. Write-up of the Finally, at the same time that I was acknowledg ing the importance of
project commenced in March 1979 and was completed by September 1979. African use, the Trinidadian public also realized it. The beliefs, opinions, at-
This book goes beyond the original definition of the problem and sets forth titudes , and j ustifications about the drug and the traffic which Trinidad ian
theoretical considerations and includes significant data not anticipated in the African ganja users espoused had deepened into a form of Rastafarianism , an
original design. This, it is felt, is an unexpected dividend of the research and ideological system which provided a biblical stamp of approval for both use
adds testimony to the value of the holistic approach of anthropology. In this and trafficking, at the same time that the media and the police had grown in-
regard, early analysis of field data strongly suggested the pivotal role of creasingly hostile toward it. The ensuing confrontation di vided the citi zenry,
young Trinidadian Africans. rather than Indians, in creating and continuing claimed fatalities, and encroached increasingly on national politics. The sig-
the present-day ganja phenomenon in Trinidad. Equally striking were the en- nificance of ganja as a source of the material production of value, in the con-
ergies which the ganja traffic, organized chiefly by the African users, lent to text of persistentl y high rates of unemployment, migration, and inflation,
this role. In Raw Deal, for example, Africans were the earliest and most nu- stimulated urgent public discussion.
merous ganja users, and the traffic in the substance was controlled entirely by The charge of irrelevance, often leveled at scholarly endeavors, could not
them. In Princes Town, both using and trading networks of several categories have been avoided in the case of this project if I had not taken steps to
of Indian users were tracked back to using and trading networks of the broaden the original scope of the research. The final report was drafted , there-
African residents in the town center. Similar observations were made early in fore, as much in awareness of the practical and applied uses this study may
the fieldwork in San Fernando. Tn the cannabis-growing village, an arresting have in regard to matters of such topical importance as in deference to the
discovery was that middle-aged Indians, who had only recently become logical and theoretical priorities described above . At the same time, it must be
growers, were nonusers of the substance and strongly disapproved of use noted that full advantage was taken in formul ating thi s manuscript of those
among their adolescent sons. The latter had been taught to use the ganja their absolutely necessary and happily abundant materials collected on the Trinida-
fathers grew by the handful of young Trinidadian Africans living in this pre- dian Indians . Moreover, this procedure had an arresting effect in the investi-
dominantly Indian countryside. Thus, a full description of the social charac- gation as it flagged unforeseen complexities of the ganja phenomenon in
teristics of ganja use in Trinidad depended on a thorough collection of data on Trinidad; for example, when the "Indians'' cited in this document come to
African users, a fact that had not been completely anticipated in the original identify themselves through the agency of ganja and through their involve-
design. ment in the ganja traffic as " Africans" and Rastafari.
xxvi Preface Preface xx vii

This study, while focusing on the ganja phenomenon, addresses itself to sev- which al so contain nitrogen in their structure. The active princ iples of marijuana, ter-
eral key problems of Trinidadian and Caribbean sociology. The issue of race penophenol ic compounds classed as dibenzopirans and called cannabinols - in particu-
and ethnicity is raised in the dramatic fashion already suggested. Beyond that, lar, tetrahydrocannabin ol- arc among the few w hich lack nitrogen (Emboden 1972;
Schultes 1975).
the type of socioeconomic formation Trinidad is, the kinds of social classes
2. Christopher Wren, "A Bid to Sh ield Med ical Sales of M arij uana," New Yurk Times ,
participating in it, and the sort of change it is likely to undergo are questions 14 August 1998 , A 15 ; V. D ion Haynes, "Marijuana Club Given Official Role in Oak land ,"
whose usual formulation is unsettled by the emergence of a large unemployed Chical?o Tribune. 14 August 1998, I.
population which has adopted the unique social organizational features, cul- 3. The Restoration of Religiou s Freedoms Act, s igned into law by President Clinton in
tural initiatives, and economic functioning to be described in these pages. 1997, protects religious practices from state interference, unless government can j ustify it
The emergence of similar complexes in other populations around the globe, by showing "a compelling interest."
and their increasing politicization in this decade, enhances the plausibility of 4. Since the 1990s, wealthy Americans like the philanthropist Ray Smart and the fin -
ancier George Soros have invested subs tantial sums in the debate to reform drug pol icy.
the world systems approach to be argued in this study. In this approach,
Their contributions support the Lindesmith Center in New York and San Francisco, which
Trinidad is viewed as a peripheral-capitalist socioeconomic formation within
is headed by Ethan Nadelmann and Marsha Rosenbaum. Prominent supporters of mari-
the capitalist world system. This study seeks to contribute to an understanding juana and drug pol icy reform include fe deral j udge Robert Sweet; Kurt Schmoke, the
of the actual economic life of such societies, and specifically to illuminate the mayor of Baltimore; Pat Murphy, the former New York City Comm issioner of Pol ice: and
relationship between the corporate, capitalist sector and the informal economy. Milton Friedman, the Nobel prize- winning, economist at the University of Chicago. Drs.
This book has also benefited from my continuing research on drugs, specif- Andrew Wei!, Lester Grinspoon, Harry Levine, John Morgan. Lynn Zimmer, Stanton
ically cocaine in the 1980s and heroin in the 1990s. These studies have con- Peele , and Alexander Shulgin are other academics who support reform.
firmed the notion that in the array of drugs currently available to American 5. Phillip 0 . Coffin, "A Duty to Censor: U.N. Officials Want to Crackdown on Drug
War Protesters,'' Reason, vol. 30 , no . 4 (A ugust/September 1998), 54-55.
users, marijuana distinguishes itself as a prescription for responsible behav-
ior. It appears that its use is rallying yet another disheartened population in
the late 1990s. After the much-publicized ravages of cocaine smoking during
the 1980s, drug users in American inner cities are restricting themselves to
marijuana, which features in what might thus be called an indigenous harm
reduction program. For example, they are showing the same caution and cir-
cumspection by which they have chosen marijuana over cocaine and heroin
in the other areas of their lives. Despite the proliferation of guns and gangs,
most young persons in minority, low-income neighborhoods in New York
City seem freshly committed to strive for good grades and to complete their
education and job training, are concerned about neighborhood revitalization
and public health issues, and pursue wholesome activities in sports and the
arts (Hamid 1998). As a result, the city has recently benefited from a precip-
itous decline of criminal offending in all categories. If they are to be furthered
in this wholesome direction, the current drug laws, and marijuana laws in par-
ticular, should be urgently reviewed. The example of countries such as the
Netherlands, which tolerates marijuana use, could be followed.

NOTES

I. Only a few types of chemical compounds are hallucinogenic. In plants, only or-
ganic compounds, or those containing carbon, are hallucinogenic. Inorganic compounds,
such as minerals, are nonhallucinogenic. Most hallucinogenic compounds are alkaloids
 Introduction:
Use-Complexes
and the Ganja Complex

The gifts of cannabis to man include hemp fiber, edible fruit, edible seeds, in-
dustrial oil, industrial wax, medicine, and a narcotic. Different human popu-
lations have valued it for these several uses or have concentrated exclusively
on one alone. In the study of all its uses, however, and especially as a narcotic
or psychoactive, the concept of use-complexes will aid the reader to under-
stand how the sociocultural and economic processes in human groups pre-
dominate in human--drug (or-plant) interactions , rather than merely bio-
chemistry or pharmacology. As the ganja complex , its components as well as
its cross-cultural , transnational, and transhistorical diffusion, forms the par-
ticular focus of this study, its differentiation from other use-complexes needs
to be appreciated.
Marijuana use and cultivation were not prohibited by international agree-
ment until the 1930s, on the insistence of the government of the United
States. Since prehistoric times , however, it had been used freely by many peo-
ples of the Old World and was regarded mostly as a benign plant , an unam-
biguous boon of nature. Its use, however, was interwoven into broader tapes-
tries of cultural practices and traditions which provided a consistent system
of beliefs, attitudes, justifications, rituals, and behaviors to regulate it. The
term "use-complex" refers to the insertion of the tasks of marijuana cultiva-
tion, distribution, and consumption into these regulatory systems which then
determined how individuals valued and experienced them.
Use-complexes explain the broad variation in psychosomatic effects and
psychosocial outcomes which different societies have reported about mari-
juana use in different hi storical periods . Thus , because such use-
complexes have mediated the human-drug encounter, it is difficult to assert
confidently or meaningfully that Chinese , Assyrian, Hindu, Muslim , Jew,

XXIX
XXX Introduction b ztroduction xxxi

European, Greek, Turk, and modern~day American "used marijuana": the century A.D. Flowers and stems were steeped in wi ne to produce medicines
practice conveyed such unique, sometimes contradictory meanings to these and an anaesthetic used by Chinese surgeons. These preparations were also in-
diverse peoples as to be a completely new phenomenon from age to age and tegrated into shamanistic and healing traditions (Bennett et al. 1995).
from culture to culture. Some users (and those who opposed or persecuted
them) felt that marijuana had made them assassins, others were stimulated Southeast Asian and Near Eastern
by pacificism, and yet others by rebellion or heightened nationalism. Many
more were affected by little more than a hunger attack or a spell of dreamy El sewhere in the ancient world, other use-complexes, again centered around
sleep. Others restricted use of the plant to its industrial uses, such as the pro- harvests of wild and cultivated cannabis sativa, have been recorded in Persia,
duction of oils, waxes, and fiber, and experienced no psychoactive effects at Assyria, Babylon , and Palestine. The Persian Avesta reports that the Zoroas-
all. In some use-complexes, cannabis sativa was used exclusively; in others. trian heroes Gustasp and Ardu Viraf attained wisdom through imbibing a bev-
mostly cannabis indica and its variants. erage prepared of cannabis sativa, while Hvovi, the wife of Zoroaster, prayed
that the One God , Ahura Mazda, bless her with gifts of the beverage , so as to
keep her god-fearing .
Herodotus, the Greek traveler credited wi th being the "father of history,"
MARIJUANA USE-COMPLEXES IN HISTORY
reported his sojourn among marijuana users in the fifth century B .C. He de-
scribes their funeral rites as follows:
A review of some of the diverse relations humans have maintained with mar-
ijuana illustrates this variation: After a buria l, those involved have to purify themse lves. which they do in this way.
First they soap and wash the ir heads. then to cleanse their bodies they make a little
tent, fixing three sticks in the ground, ti ed together and tightly covered with fe lt. In-
Neolithic side a dish is placed. with red-hot stones and some hemp seeds.
There is in that country cannabis growing , both wild and cultivated. Fuller and
While the exact place has not yet been determined, the cannabis plant is gen-
taller than fl ax, the Thrac ians usc it to make garments very like linen . Unless one
erally believed to have originated in Central Asia, and the earliest recorded were a Master of Hemp , one could not tell which it was -those who have ne ver seen
references to it are in the ancient literature of China. The earliest tangible ev- hemp would think it was linen.
idence of hemp in the world, in the form of hemp cloths and fabric-marked The Scythians take cannabis seed . creep in under the felts, and throw it under on
pots, has been recovered in Neolithic sites (circa 4000 B.C.) in north-central the red-hot stones. It smoulders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no
China, eastern Siberia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Kansu, and Chinese Turkestan. Greek vapor-bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths,
Similar deposits have been unearthed in other Neolithic sites in Austria, Ro- wh ich serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water
(Herodotus 5 15 BC/195 4. IV: 73).
mania, Switzerland, and Germany. Neolithic humans harvested wild cannabis
sativa to make clothing, rope, fishnets, and pottery mats. They may have also
Describing the funeral of a king , he records some variations of these prac-
eaten the nutrient-rich seeds (Li 1975). tices among the Scythian nomads originating in Central Asia who inhabited
areas near the Black and Caspian Seas .
Chinese The Greeks and Romans also valued the medicinal uses of cannabis sativa.
The famous physicians Dioscorides and Galen prescribed it for earaches and
ln some Chinese languages, the words for "marijuana" and "plant" are one, indigestion or as an appetite stimulant . They cautioned, however, that it sup-
leading historians to conclude that marijuana had been the first plant these
pressed sexual appetites . The Romans also used the fiber extensively to make
Chinese cultivated. They prized cannabis sativa trees for their long stem sail cloth.
fibers, and increased fiber production by planting them in dense thickets to en-
able them to attain their greatest height. Such plantations also yielded abun-
Jewish and Muslim
dant harvests of the nutritious seeds. The Chinese use-complex, however, also
recognized the medical and therapeutic properties of the plant. The first med- In the Old Testament , kanbus, kanabos, or kaneh bosm (Talmudic terms for
ical uses of cannabis were documented in China, in a herbal text of the second hemp) was recorded as being put to a very different use . While the Jewish law
XXX II Introduction Introduction xxx iii

permitted intoxicants, it reserved marijuana for specific sacred and secular speaking tribes treasured it as a panacea, especially e ffective in the treatment
purposes, such as the making the ropes of Solomon 's temple and the robes of of malaria, blood poisoning, and snakebite. In South Africa, Zulus smoked it
the priests (Rubin 1975). In Exodus 30:23. God commands Moses to make from gourd water pipes as a "war medicine." (Rubin 1975).
holy oil for anointing kings and priests out of myrrh, sweet cinnamon , kaneh
hosm, and cassia. Among neighboring Muslims, who were forbidden all in- Ethiopian
tox icating substances. marijuana nevertheless was tolerated in multiple cul-
tural patterns. In Egypt. it fueled a ''cafe society," which celebrated erotic im- While marijuana was eaten in many traditions, it was mostly smoked among
agery, jokes, puns , and clever sayings (Levy 1957). In Persia, the Thousand the Christian ascetics of Ethiopia , where ornamental water pipes dating from
and One Nights were saturated with the odor of hashish (Andrews and the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries have been found to contain cannabinoid
Vinkenoog 1967). In the mixed Arab- Berber empire of Morocco , "the residues ( Dombrowski 1971; van der Merwe 1975) . Ethiopians are believed
''Learned of the Faithful" strictly applied the prohibitions of the Koran to have invented the water pipe . The drug supplied the fortitude and en-
against intoxicants, yet permitted the eating and smoking of hashish or kif by durance the stylites, dendrites, and cave-dwelling monks needed to persevere
tribal groups of the Atlas Mountains (Palgi 1975). Marijuana and tobacco in fasts, bodily mortifications , and vigils .
smoking also flourished in Turkey from an early age.
Ibn Khaldun , the Arabic historian, also took a keen interest in marijuana and European
hashish. Suspicious of intoxication , the Koran had warned strictly and explicitly
The plant was introduced to European societies in the early thirteenth century,
against all alcohol use, but because cannabis had long been cultivated in the
and quickly became a widely prescribed medicine. Early herbals recommended
Middle East, the birthplace of Islam, the eating or smoking of hashish and mar-
preparations to alleviate coughs, jaundice, ague, fluxes , colic , worms, and in-
ijuana was usually tolerated, although not encouraged, throughout the Arab
flammations. It was also added to belladonna, henbane, aconite, and opium in
world. Ibn Khaldun commented on the customs and mores of this extensive
the practice of witchcraft. During the Age of Discovery, however, as European
Muslim demimonde, centered around coffeehouses and pleasure gardens, where
nations competed to dominate the seas and overseas territories, it was of criti-
wits gathered to recite poetry and enjoy the company of courtesans.
cal and strategic importance for the manufacture of cloth , rope, and sail cloth .
In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo , the Venetian whose family had
Both English and French farmers were required by their monarchs, on pain o f
opened trade routes between Italy and China, drew attention to the relation-
stiff fines, to apportion a certain stipulated acreage to its cultivation.
ship between drugs, crime, and violence. Apparently sensationalizing some
In the eighteenth century, European literary and artistic circles were enrap-
accounts of his travels , he wrote of the threat posed by "hashishiyya ," or
tured by cannabis, and works extolling it poured from luminaries like Baude-
thugs who robbed and killed under the influence of cannabis (Abel 1980).
laire, Rimbaud, Coleridge, and De Quincey. A use-complex was fashioned
from the ir taste for the decadent and their passion to ex plore both sensuality
Sub-Saharan African and spirituality. Meanwhile, physicians continued their inquiry into the
plant 's therapeutic values. The French physician Louis-Aubert Roche tested
After establishing Middle Eastern styles of use (together with coffee and to-
it as a cure for plague, while his countryman Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours
bacco) in Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria, Muslim and Arab expansionism and
experimented with it as an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of mental ill-
colonialism introduced the plant, or dagga, to central and southern Africa,
ness. William B. O'Shaughnessy, the Scottish physican, treated his rheumatic
where distinct dagga use-complexes emerged among herders, hunters, and
patients with tinctures of cannabis and successfull y quelled muscle spasms of
warriors (Du Toit 1975). Mixed with indigenous herbs into powders and
tetanus and rabies with them.
pastes for eating, inhaling . and smoking, the drug bred aggressivity during
battle and efficiency at work . In Rwanda, the Twa , a vassal lineage of the erst-
while ruling minority caste, the Tutsi, constructed a reputation for extraordi- American
nary strength, rowdiness, bestiality, unflinching loyalty to their lords, and un- In the fifteenth century, during the ages of European exploration and con-
bridled vengefulness around their consumption of the drug (Codere 1975). quest, marijuana was among the many species of plants and animals which
Arab traders also introduced cannabis smoking to native peoples in Zan- were transferred from their countries of origin to far-flung corners of the
zibar and East Africa. Call ing it mbange or lubange , Bantu- and Swahili- earth . Leaving Asia, marijuana fi nally thrived everywhere: by the 1970s, in
 lmmduction XXXV
xxxiv Introduction

addition to plantations in five continents, it was being cultivated on the fire cultivation of and experimentation with the cannabis indica variety of the
escapes or in the living rooms of many apartments in New York City, in barns plant; a religious justification of use; religious art, poesy, and rituals which cel-
in Vermont, and in hothouses in Alaska's subzero temperatures. ebrated use; an emphasis on the plant's psychoactive properties; and a strong
After it-; introduction to the Americas by the Spaniards in the 1500s. a use- folk-medical ideology which recommended marijuana as a panacea for physi-
complex focusing on the commercial value of the cannabis sativa variety of cal, psychological, and spiritual ills. Undergirding these superstructural ele-
the plant formed , and it was cultivated extensively for its fiber. with which ments of the ganja complex was an informal economy and its socio-political
hempen cloths and rope were manufactured. Although colonial Americans organization through which marijuana was cultivated , di stributed , exchanged,
had been familiar with the medic inal and therapeutic uses of the drug and had and consumed . The earliest descriptions of the ganja complex are given in
used it accordingly, in tinctures and tisanes, it was apparently not used for in- northern Indian religious and literary texts and art. Yogic devotees of the
toxication or recreation . Hindu god Shiva were among its most ardent carriers. Daubed with funereal
In the late 1800s , int1uenced by European Romantics like Coleridge, De ashes and sporting dreadlocks like the Great Yogi himself, 1 they ditfused the
Quincey, Baudelaire, and Rimbaud, American literati adopted cannabis smok- ganja complex in many parts of the subcontinent.
ing. FitzHugh Ludlow popularized the practice in The Hasheesh Eater (1857). The report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894) , an early para-
By 1876, hashish smoking and hookahs were prominently showcased at the digmatic work in drug studies, identifies ele ments of this use-complex:
Turkish Bazaar at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In 1883, H. H.
435. It is chiefly in connection with the worship of Siva, the Mahadeo or great god
Kane described an opulent hashish house in New York, with light shows, or-
of the Hindu trinity, that the hemp plant, and more especially perhaps ganja, is asso-
nate fixtures, and sumptuous furnishings, where fashionable men and women ciated. The hemp plant is popularly believed to have been a great fav ourite of Siva,
smoked from hookahs and ate sweetmeats made of hashish. In his Essay on and there is a great deal of evidence before the Commission to show that the drug in
Hasheesh (19 12), Victor Robinson described out-of-body experiences such some forrn or other is now extensively used in the exerc ise of the religious practices
users had enjoyed. Fresh life was blown into this use-complex during the Jazz connected with this form of worship. Reference to the almost universal use of hemp
Age by Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and many other musicians. drugs by fakirs, yogis, sany asis, and ascetics of all classes, and more particularly of
In the 1960s, yet another, distinct indigenous American use-complex those devoted to the worship of Siva, will be found in the paragraphs of this text
dealing w ith the classes of people who consume the drugs . These religious ascetics.
sprouted among young African Americans and European Americans, which
who are regarded with great veneration by the people at large, believe that the hemp
drew on such countercultural currents as opposition to the war in Vietnam, the
plant is a special attribute of the god Siva, and this belief is largely shared by the peo-
civil rights struggle against racial inequality, the possibility of revolutionary ple. Hence the origin of many fo nd epithets ascribing to ganj a significance of a di-
success in Western industrialized societies , and attempts to challenge the le- vine property, and the common practice of invoking the deity in terms of adoration
gitimation of mainstream sexual mores and culture generally. Marijuana use before placing the chillum or pipe to the lips . There is evidence to show that on al-
became a litmus paper for differentiating between supporters of the socio- most all occasions of the worship of this god , the hemp drugs in some form or other
economic , political, and cultura l status quo and middle-class mores and those is used by certain classes of the people. It is established by the evidence of Ma-
hamahopadhya Mahesa Chandra Nyayaratna and other witnesses that :>iddhi is of-
who opposed them. The psychoactive properties of the experience were there-
fered to the image of Siva at Benares, Baidyanath, Tarakeswa and elsewhere . At the
fore emphasized. This use-complex proved enormously influential and was
Shivratni festival, and on almost all occasions on which this worship is practiced.
transplanted worldwide. "Westernized" youths m every country embraced there is abundant evidence before the Commission whic h shows not only that ganja
and it and their experiences enriched it. is offered to the god and consumed by these classes of the worshippers, but that these
customs are so intimately connected with the ir worship that they may be considered
The Ganja Use-Complex to form in some sense an integral part of it.
436. Tht special forrn of worship by the followers of Si va, called the Trinath or
Some of the cultural patterns associated with marijuana have been remark- Tinnath Mcla, in which the use of ganja is considered to be essential , is mentioned
ably durable and long-lived . The subject of this book is the ganja complex, one by many witnesses, and deserves more than a passing notice. A full account of this
of the most distinctive and long-lasting. Originating in Northern India some religious practice given by Babu Ahhilas Chandra Mukharji will be found in Volume
5,000 years ago, after the plant had been brought there by Neolithic nomadic III Appendices of this Report. The origin of the rite , which it is said sprang up first
tribes of Northeast Asia and China (Li 1975) , it was established eventually in East Bengal, appears to be of recent date , about the year 1867. It appears to be ob-
throughout the Indian subcontinent. Universals of the ganja complex were: served at all times and all seasons by Hindus and Mohammedans alike , the latter
 Introduction XX XV II
XXXV I Introduction

calling it Tinlakh Pir. When an obj ect of special desi re is fulfilled, or when a person grants with familiar goods and services imported from home (Weller 1972;
recovers from illness, or a son is born, or a marriage or other ceremony is performed , Klass J96 1).
the god Trinath, representing in one the Hi ndu trinity, is worshipped . Originally one These Indians had embarked from Calcutta at the very time when the prac-
pice worth of ganja, one pice worth of oil, and one pice worth of betel-nut was of- tices described by the Royal Commi ssion, and particularly the Tinnath Mela
fered to the god . But now ganja - it may be in large quantities - is proffered, and
(see above) . were most widespread and popular. Moreover, Bengal had. al.so
during incantations and the performance of the ritual , it is incumbent on all present
to smoke. This form of worship is shown to have spread extensively throughout East
been a traditional center of experimentation and cultivation of cannabts In-
Bengal and the Surma Valley of Assam , and according to one witness , it has pene- dica. Indeed , sinsemilla production was prefigured in this area, where "ganja
trated even to Orissa (Indian Hemp Drugs Commi ssion 1894, chapter 3). doctors" could distinguish male from female plants as seedlings, thus en-
abling them to be separated and allowing the unfertilized females to realize
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission gives detailed portraits of the institu- their full potential of resin and flower production and cannabinoid potenc~.
tionalization of the ganja complex in the different social classes of various re- Transferred by them to the Caribbean , however, the ganj a complex had di-
gions of India in the nineteenth century. The commission, comprising British vergent outcomes in the different islands and territories , such as Trinidad ,
civil servants, judges, and physicians, heard testimony from Indians of every Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica.
background conceming the use of a wide variety of products derived from the Thus, in Jamaica, with the barest excitement, the ganja complex tran-
two species of the plant, cannabis indica and sativa, such as hashish, charas, scended the boundaries around the Asian population which had originally
bhang , and other food or beverage preparations. They spoke approvingly of nourished it and had take n vigorous root among local Jamaican Africans . A
how deeply integrated and adaptive the items of the ganja complex had be- majority of the rural Jamaican African population rapidly gre~ to believe t.hat
come in these diverse social strata (Indian Hemp Drugs Commission 1894) . it was a beneficial substance, imbued with spiritual and religious propert1es.
In the nineteenth century, the ganja complex was transplanted to shores far and they used it liberally from birth until death. Moreover, adapting the ganja
away from India, and among an entirely new population. In the Caribbean , in complex to the harsh realities of the rural Jamaican laboring life, they .thought
the period following Emancipation, sugarcane plantations suffered ac ute that prolonged use built up workers' strength and made them more v1gorous ,
shortages of labor as Africans sought to establish themselves as an indepen- so that they could work harder, faster, and longer. As a consequence , eve.~ em-
dent peasantry or fled the countryside altogether. To replace them , the British ployers who abstained from using the drug personally preferred manJuana
government designed an indentureship program for importing laborers from smokers as laborers, and often provided ganja at the workplace to mcrease loy-
the Far East and India. Although it was opposed by several indigenous inter- alty and productivity (Comitas 1973) . According to Comitas:
ests both in Asia and the Caribbean, the program was implemented, and the
first ship of Chinese indentured laborers arrived in 1837. As the Chinese The roots of the Jamaican ganja complex can be linked to the Indian subcontinent.
proved unsuitable for plantation labor, however, Indians were indentured in- During the latter pan of the nineteenth ce ntury, its prototypical forms were carried
to the island by East Indian indentured laborers. recruited to replace the eman~.:1pated
stead. The Fateh Rahman, the ship bringing the first contingent of them from
slaves in the cane fields. Present-day techniques and types of ganja use, critical parts
Calcutta, docked in Port-of-Spain in 1843 (Williams 1970, 1982; Sherlock
of the ganja lexicon and much of the justifkatory ideology surrounding ganja lend
1966; Parry 1968; Weller 1968). strong support to a claim of a dircd India-to-Jamaica diffusion. The great majorit7
Indians who enrolled in the indentureship program were recruited mainly of ganja users in Jamaica. however, are not East Ind ians . who form only a small ml-
in Calcutta and Madras, but these cities were lodestones for rural migrants nority of the population, but Black laboring people, both rural and urban, who are
from several surrounding Indian states and principalities. In the main, they descendants of the African slaves who were forcibly brought to the New World m
were desperately poor farmers who were sufficiently venturesome to tear the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
It is clear from prima facie evidence that ganja use in Jamaica is e xtraordinarily
themselves from centuries-old parochial and religious loyalties in order to
widespread. Although national statistics on these illegal practices arc non-existent.
seek better lives in taboo lands across the seas. They differed, however, in
various estimates of the number of users, ranging from one-third to two-thirds of the
caste and religious backgrounds, and thus brought with them a variety of lower class, have been given by different sources. A somewhat more precise estima-
skills or occupational specializations . They were joined presently by poorly tion can be based on the work of the Jamaican project team. For example. a survey
capitalized but enterprising merchants or entrepreneurs , who paid their own of ganja smoking in one of the seven communities studied indicated that fully SO%
passages as free agents and sought to earn a living by supplying the immi- of all males over 15 were smokers (half of these being classified as heavy smokers) ;
 Introduction xxxix
xxxvi ii Introduction

7.3% were former smokers ; only 20% were non-smokers; and 22.3% were uncl a~si­
The distribution of marijuana also entered unobstrusively into the preexisting
fia ble due either to con tlicting information or reluctance hy informants to provide in- marketing networks operated by higglers, or market women, and strengthen~d
formation . If only half the unclassifiables were added to the smoker group. a very them. During slavery, when Africans had been allowed to cultivate self-subsis-
conservative procedure. a fi gure wou ld be generated for adult male smokers of over tence kitchen gardens (to free owners of the responsibility offeeding th~m), trad-
60%. If the 7.3% former smokers were included then over 6!l<n, of the adult males in ing in the produce was a rare dimension of freedom and had ~en do~mated by
the community were currently smoking or had smoked ganja in the past. After com- women (Katzin 1959). Individual higglers had mapped over ume the1r personal
paring these data w ith those derived from other study localities. it can be safely
marketing routes and had achieved a degree of specialization, and e~ch had con-
stated that the estimates gi ven. from o ne-third to two-thirds of the lower class, do not
misrepresent the extent of male smoking in the rural areas, In fact they tend to lend
solidated a network of suppliers or peasant producers on the one stde and net-
credence to the higher ranges of these more impressionistic estimates. works of urban consumers on the other. These formed part of the legacy they be-
Male ganja smokers make up only a part of the ganja using population. however. 4ueathed to the younger kinswomen who succeeded them after retirement or
since women, in lesser numbers, also smoke. A larger pool of individuals including death. As they moved around the countryside, and between tow~ ~d cou~try,
children , adult smokers and adamant non-smokers drink ganja teas and tonics for they served as power brokers and were important sources of credit, .mnovatton,
medic inal or prophy lactic purposes. Many use the plant as an external tonic, and information, and gossip . The modest trade in marijuana increased thetr substance
some make occasional use of ganja in food. Given the extent of non-smoking uses ,
o ne cou ld est imate with considerable confidence that some 60 to 70% of the lower
and effectiveness.
Likewise the use of marijuana by various routes of administration was re-
section of the rural population, men, women and children inhale, ingest or use ganja
in some form - undoubtedly o ne of the highest rates of marijuana usc for any popu- sponsive to 'peasant status and grassroots ~li~ical.concems . Just as in lndi~,
lation in the Western world." (Rubin and Comitas 1969. 37-38) where the different social strata could be dtstmgutshed by how they partiCI-
pated in the ganja complex (either by drinkin~ hh~ng o~ s~ok~ng charas), so
The ganja complex, by rooting itself deeply in the key institutions of rural too different styles of use, dosage , and admintstrauon dtstmgm sh~d age.' gen-
African Jamaican life, ensured its survival and continuous elaboration for a der, and class stratum in rural Jamaica. In childhood, mothers offered It as a
prolonged future. Only a decade after its introduction, marijuana assumed im- medicine and tonic, often in infusions made by steeping marijuana lea~es. m
portant folk-ph armacological, economic, social, and cultural functions in the illegally distilled rum ("bushrum" or "mountain dew"). In adolescence, m tr~­
mostly African rural Jamaica, as it had done for centuries in India, quent or sporadic episodes of ganja smoking were among several bo?ds untt-
The cultivatio n of marijuana adapted well to work patterns common ing peer groups. As young adults, the smokers began to lead .n:ore m~ep~n­
among Jamaican peasants, which were shaped by the wisdom ''never to put dent lives, centered around marrying, building a home, ralSlng ~ famtly,
all one's eggs in one basket" or, in other words, to avoid reliance on a single becoming economically self-sufficient or even reasonably well-off, s.ports
source of sustenance. Thus a rural householder typicall y combined different (football and cricket), and climbing the local civil and religious status hterar-
types of agricultural enterprise (raising a variety of livestock or crops) with chies. Ganja smoking then fell in place with the rhythms of a busy hfe, and
nonagri cultural supplements to his income or value (fishing , hunting, con- took place in smaller, more carefully selected co":'~any than in. adolescence.
struction, arts and crafts, lay teaching. or preaching). Where "occupational Finally, in old age, as resources, cash, and mob!l1ty are restncted even as
multiplicity" (Comitas 1973) was necessary for survival, the addition of200 some senior citizens reap status and honors, marijuana is pubhcly forsworn
roots of marijuana under cultivation, for personal use, barter, or sale, was a and , as in babyhood, is again supplied discreetly and medicinally in teas and
substantial bulwark of the household's prosperity. Many such householders tonics (Comitas 197 5). . .
therefore culti vated marijuana. Cultivating marijuana never consumed the While marijuana was differently valued by these different categones of
whole energies of the household, nor was it the basis of syndicalization users - babies found re lief from teething troubles, their mothers gained pres-
among cultivators. Indeed, it differed from other agricultural work in that tige as "bush doctors," adolescents fed their sexual fan tasies, young adults
one respec t only. Whereas work parties (gayals) were mobilized , with tradi- improved their soccer and cricket games, mature workers increased the tr pro-
tional feasting, drinking, and ganja smoking, among the able-bodied in a ductivity, and older persons grew in wisdom and respect-all agreed on the
communi ty to assist the individual farmer to perform the heavy agricultural f undamentals of the ganja complex, such as the spiritual , " divine" provenance
tasks , such as felling trees, digging roots, or posting fences, the cultivation of the plant, its stimulant effects on artistic and religious expression, and its
of marijuana was always undertaken by the single individual-although it mission to heal.
too entailed the onerous labor of forest clearing and daily surveillance.
 xl Introduction Introduction xli

Although the ganja complex exerted considerable int1uence on the world licensed agents and the amount each received, while the latter wrote down the
views and behaviors of rural Jamaicans and the cultivation, use, and distribu- names of their customers in a log kept at their local shops. The Indians, how-
tion of marijuana were widespread among them , it was resisted by some lo- ever, not only consumed the licensed imports but cultivated their own crops
cal elites, as they were in the Indian motherland. In the Jamaican case, how- illegally. Some enterprising individuals had also sailed to nearby Venezuela
ever, they opposed it not only because it carried the stigma of illegality, or to cultivate marijuana clandestinely for reimport into Trinidad.
because it smacked so much of the "superstitions" of the countryside, but also But by 1915, the majority of Indians in Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname had
in deference to United States' policy and initiatives against drugs. Thus in Ja- abandoned the centuries-old practice. An Indian infonnant, a much-traveled
maican c ities , it was acceptable only in the laboring classes, in criminal c ir- Presbyterian, said that long before his shop in Princes Town was raided in 1934,
cles, or in the many minor dissident groups or religious cults which thri ved in her father had wished to tenninate his subagency to a large importer of legal
the ghettos of the unemployed and poor. It was in these ghettos that others of marijuana in Port-of-Spain. She said that he made much more on cheap Spanish
the ancient features of the "ganja complex ," such as cannabis-inspired reli- wine mixed with water than on marijuana; and that the latter attracted only the
g ious art, music, poetry, and ritual, were most strongly revived. 2 most backward , the most countrified of customers-people who rode into !own
In Trinidad , as well as in Suriname and Guyana, the ganja complex re- in their bullock carts, who swore and were disorderly, and whom her father
ceived a very different welcome than in Jamaica. Just as in the latte r island , loathed. Eventually the ganja complex was sustained by a handful of e lderly men
the Indians who settled in these colonies smoked plenty of marijuana at the (and maybe a few younger male acolytes) near the forested parts of the island.
time of their arrival and for some fifty years afterward. For example, Rev- Apart from them, the only other users were small circles in the cities made up of
erend John Morton, the Canadian Presbyterian missionary who proselytized sailors, criminals, entertainers. and prostitutes who depended on imported sup-
many Indians in Trinidad , observed in 1859: plies to support fledgling, American-influenced local marijuana-using subcul-
It was a necessary feature in the training of helpers that they should be led to acquire tures. The two groups of users were mostly oblivious of each other.
right views as to the evils of strong drinks and narcotics. The pledge used at this time From the early 1900s to 1960 , then , there was virtually no use of marijuana
included a promise not to use or encourage the use of opium or ganja in any form ... in Trinidad . The centuries-old cultural complex had evaporated. It had not
Ganja grows here freely, and is more commonly used by Hindoos of caste than either been diffused to other Trinidadians, such as Africans, Chinese, Europeans,
rum or opium. It is said to carry a man above his sorrows, to transport him into a par- and Middle Eao;tem ers. Jn 1978, among the original bearers of the cultural
adise where the sweetest strains of music and the warbling of birds ravish his cars, complex , only a few Indians in their late seventies could recognize marijuana
where scenes of splendour and objects of beauty meet his enraptured gaze, and his soul
and could admit to actually purchasing it (as adolescents for their elders' use);
is filled with indescribable ecstasy. The reaction of ganja does not seem so bad as al-
cohol or opium: yet, if followed up , are very injurious (Morton 191 6). but most younger Indians could not recognize the plant when it was shown to
them. Advised that they were holding parts of a marijuana plant, they recoiled
Describing another Ind ian milieu jn Trinidad, Morton wrote of his pastoral in horror, fearfully wondering whether they had been contaminated by the
work in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain , the capital city: " dangerous drug" against which local and American media had warned them .
Why did the import of the ganja complex into J amaica and Trinidad (or
One feature of that work is the holding of services in Indian hotels. Some of these
Guyana or Suriname) have such divergent results? The legal restrictions in-
are chiefly used by people from the country when they come to town on business. [n
others, local porters and jobbers are most prominent. In almost all , there is gambling stituted in the 1930s against the drug and the subsequent police raids are not
and opium and ganja smoking . They sleep on the fl oor with or withOut--(! blanket to enough to explajn the virtual extinction of use among Ind ians in Trinidad and
soften it. During a service in one, I saw a lad asleep on his chest as he stood leaning the other territories. After all , similar laws had applied in Jamaica. And more-
on a doorpost, from the effects of ganja (Morton 1916). over, the decline had started much earlier; the laws remai ned very leniently
enforced and were debated in a climate of public opinion more accommodat-
While in the 1900s the cultivation of marijuana in Trinidad was outlawed, ing of use than in the 1980s.
its import from India, regulated by the customs officer and for distribution by One possible reason is the size of the Indian indenture and immigration to
licensed agents throughout the island, was pennitted. In this arrangement, the various colonies. The number of immigrants to Jamaica was very small,
Parliament determined the maximum amount of the substance which could and they quickly became indistinguishable from other rural Jamaicans (mostly
be imported, the customs officer imposed a tax and maintained a roster of the of African descent). Too small numerically and too lacking in resources to
xlii Introduction Introduction xliii

form effective ethnic communities or associations, they posed no threat to these young people introduce it to the African Americans, Latinos, and Euro-
abiding Jamaican institutions and soc ial arrangements. According to this rea- pean American who are their neighbors in the Caribbean i mmi~r~nt ~ommu­
soning, Indian cultural items such as food, clothing, and ganja use became in ni ties of North America. The ir cousins in immigrant commumt1es m Euro-
short order common rural Jamaican property. By the late 1800s , therefore , the pean capitals, such as London. Paris, and Amsterdam ,_ simult_ane~usl y
ganja complex was endemic in the Jamaican countryside and remained so un- introduce it to other local populations. Finally, 100 years after the tmmtgra-
til the 1960s when the fresh developments to be described in this book popu- tion of Indians to the Caribbean, the religious and artistic components of the
larized it even fu rther (Ru bin and Comitas 1975). ganja complex have taken a distincti ve form and have flourished as Rastaf ari
Another explanation, also related to the size of the immigration , re lates the and in reggae music (which are today wide ly accepted , commonplace cultural
disappearance of the ganja complex to the processes of assimilation which expressions in the globa l community). .
any large immigrant population undergoes in a host society. Thus. wide-scale T his book gives the details of these events. In chapter 1, the general soctc-
changes occurring among East Indians in Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname in tal conditions in which the ganja complex was diffused or revived in Trinidad
the 1900s formed the context in which the 5 ,000-year-old ganja complex dis- arc suggested. These include mode rnization . the destruction of indig_enous
appeared . The further proletariani zation of the sugar laborers , the establish- economies, high unemployment, inflation, a national government made-
ment of a class of proprietors produci ng canes on lands sold or leased by the quately responsive to increasing poverty and despair, and the_ ~ultural bank-
sugarcane companies, the continuing fli ght from the countryside altogether to ruptcy of a community dominated by a com prador bourgeo1s1e . C hapter 2
residence and em ployment in the urban-industrial areas. the appetite for edu- traces the introduction of marijuana and the ganja complex. Chapter 3 out-
cation as a major road of upward mobility, the increasing conversions to lines the development of the social-organizational pillars on which the ganja
Christianity (which involved , as Morton noted , the pledge against "'strong complex rested . In chapter 4, the religious aspects are portrayed in the influ-
drinks and narcotics"}, and the drive for material prosperi ty were some of ential Rastafari movement. Chapter 5 gives details of an important exogenous
these typical processes. Seeking to assi milate, some Indians lurched into al- factor, changing public attitudes toward marijuana use and cultivation . In
cohol misuse (Klass 1961 ; Angrosino 1972; Yawney 1969). chapter 6, all the various elements reach full bloom, es~eci ally in B ~ooklyn_
Yet another explanation contrasts the relatively homogeneous African rural and other immigrant communi ties abroad . Chapter 7 d1scusses vanan ts of
population in Jamaica with the more multiethnic and multicultural local popula- other contemporary marijuana usc-complexes and showed how they were
tions of Suriname, Guyana , and especially Trinidad . In the latter, marijuana use vanquished by the ganja complex. A theoretical considera~ion of t~ese devel-
has multiple significations in the more complicated social terrain , and prevails opments is offe red in chapter 8. In chapter 9, the i mpa~t of the g~nJa co~pl~x
or not depending on an intense political struggle waged with cultural weapons. and the mariju ana economy upon the preexisting soctetal conditiOns 1s d ts-
Finally, this book argues that social-organizational, political, cultural, and cussed , and the understanding of Caribbean society which their success has
economic conditions have to be accommodati ng , all at the same time, for the encouraged is explored. Chapter 10 offers insights on U .S .- Cari bbean rela-
cultural package (the ganja complex) to take root deeply, grow, and perpetu- tions gained fro m the perspective of drug studies.
ate itself. Whe n these conditions were ripe in the late 1960s and in the 1970s.
the ganja com plex was reintroduced, as this book describes.
NOTES

THE GANJA COMPLEX TODAY 1. Seated on a tiger-skin rug . armed with his tridt:nt, and befriended by a king cobra.
Shiva, the Great Yogi. performed strenous puja at Mount Kai lash in tht: Himalayas. So vtg-
orous were his spiritual exertions that sweat poured from his matted locks, fonmng the
This book describes the continuing epic of the ganja comp lex in the post-
River Ganges. the major source of water and life in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. .
1960s period . The Asian cultural package is first diffused to young Africans
2. Of course, these early experi menters would later blossom into tht: universal Rastafan
in Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname (and to young urban African populations movement. in Rastaf;u i liurgy, ritual. art, and theater and in reggae music. See chapter 4.
it had not yet affected in Jamaica) , who then reditfuse to it young Indians in
those terri tories (whose parents and grandparents had tried to expunge it from
gro up experience); next, cooperating as growers, exporters , and distributors,
 Chapter 1

Reviving the Ganja Complex:

The Crisis of Caribbean African
Youth in San Fernando,
Trinidad, during the 1960s

If, in the human-drug interaction , the human part is to prevail, it must first be
readied. It took a time of crisis for the ganja complex to be diffused to the
African population of Trin idad and to be rediffused to young Indians whose
great-grandparents had disavowed it.
Trinidad and Tobago, two islands forming one nation, lie about fi ve miles
northwest of Peninsula de Paria in Venezuela, South America. They are the
southernmost islands of the Caribbean archipelago, and as Venezuelan national-
ists have periodically claimed, actually belong to the South American land mass,
with which they share a continuity in earth formations, crude oil deposits, soil
types, rain forests, flora, and fau na. The islanders, however, share in the history
and culture of the English-speaking Caribbean, a culture area which includes
several other Caribbean islands , Guyana, Belize, and part'> of Panama, of the
Dominican Republic, and of Costa Rica. Many contend that Brooklyn in New
York City, where over two million immigrants fro m these English-speaking
Caribbean territories have settled, should now be added to it.
Trinidad is the larger of the two islands and its capital city, Port-of-Spain,
is the nation 's administrative. fi nancial, and business center. Although it is
only twenty miles across the Caribbean Sea fro m Trinidad, Tobago is an idyl-
lic tourist attraction which still offers the oft-lauded charms of the colonial
era. It boasts an untouched rain forest in the hinterland and is surrounded by
sparkling beaches. Tobagonians, who are closely united by kinsh ip and neigh-
borliness, are renowned for their friendliness and hospitality. Cri me and drugs
are rare. By contrast, the shantytowns of Port-of-Spain can matc h Flatbush or
Crown Heights in Brooklyn in any of the indices of inner-city desperation.
San Fernando is Trinidad' s second-largest city and was the site of the ethno-
graphic research reported in this book. Dubbed the "capital of the south," the
 Clwpter 1 Reviving the Ganja Complex 3
2

title is meaningful because of the city's proximity to Pointe-a-Pierre, where competitive educational system, they had become high school dropouts without
one of the world's largest oil refineries, operated by Texaco , Inc. (USA) is lo- hope of further training. Few jobs were available for them. And since their par-
cated. Closer to San Fernando than to Port-of-Spain arc also the local oil fields ents had migrated abroad (mainl y to America. Canada, ami England) in search
themselves, a self-renewing "pitch lake" from which asphalt and bitumen are of work and were as yet unable to send remittances home, senile grandparents
exported worldwide, the refineries and estates of sugar producers, the gardens and the young persons were left to fend for themselves in deteriorating neigh-
of many of the island's small-scale agriculturalists, and its remaining reserves borhoods.
of tropical rain forest. San Fernandians have a better chance of being em- Thus the young people were pitted against an establishment which controlled
ployed than other Trinidadians or, indeed , than other West Indians. and denied access to property, education. jobs, finance , and opportunity. In the
More than 100,000 persons live in this bustling city. Originall y a fishing transcript below, a bitter feeling of dispossession from their rightful estate still
settlement and trading post nestled around a wharf on the Gulf of Paria and surfaced when two workers discussed their life circumstances in 1978. Although
extending a few miles inland upon the gently rolling Naparima hills and these young men had eventually found low-paid jobs in the oil industry at the
plai ns, it is now a greater metropolitan area which has absorbed residential end of the long period of unemployment which they describe . their good fortune
enclaves and small townships in every landward direction . Crowds in the city gave them little comfort. They had suffered and seen too much deprivation . Both
center are swollen every day by the influx of people from these suburbs and men had become Rastafari (see chapter 6), and the conversion is reflected espe-
the agricultural villages which outlie them . cially in Turner's choice of a nascent Rastafari dialect to express himself:
San Fernando is a typical seaside Caribbean city. Built without the benefit
of a plan, its streets crisscross one another unexpectedly. The original city is Constable: As vou know fu sed to live in San Fernando. fu sed 10 be lim in' on de
surrounded by the Long Circular Road and the Lady Hailes Highway. Busi- blo.ck. We kiWI,. San Fernando. 1 and you. Right? Dah is a long time.
nesses, schools. a sports stadium , a home for senior citizens, the unused rear you know. Since we were small, you know. Bertrand Street. Srenes
of the grounds of the San Fernando General Hospital , the bus terminal, an iwss: Youth Training Center, Boys Industrial [youth detention cen-
ters]. right ? All kinda terrible scenes, vou knuYI' . ..
abattoir, and wharves are strung along this rim. High Street cl imbs up out of
Turner: You see dar :' I does tell myse(f dat da h was my part for I to play den,
a gaggle of fishermen's bars and rum shops at the wharves and ascends from eh. To see how 1 come from a good family. right? And then I just left
west to east. It is lined by banks, big department stores , shopping galleries , my family and went in an inslilutimt [detention center}. From one in-
and malls. Smaller businesses are wedged tightly between them, while the stitution to de nex ' instilution to de nex ·institution .. . and it just keep
sidewalks offer an unbroken display of the goods of itinerant vendors. Sev- on go in·. I link about all ah dar. And then I get work.
eral streets roughly parallel High Street from other west-east axes, along Constable: Dis man here, de family he was fro m . ... People had plenty respect
which more schools, businesses, residences. churches, and other public build- for his brothers and for his mother. Bw de times dis man pass
through! De limes allah we pass through! Onliest difference is that
ings are located. North-south streets and roads such as Coffee Street and
he spend more time in prison at a time dan me, and de both (?f us
Cipero Street also teem with homes and businesses, and Mucurapo Street is
spend time in prison. 126 days. Flat.1 Ah go never fo rget dat. Other
the site of the San Fernando Market, the main exchange for agric ultural pro- institutions too-we make Boys Industrial a coup/a times. When l
duce from the southern half of the island. Enclaves of inner-city housing, wus a little youJhman [ 14 years of age].
where deteriorating examples of prewar colonial architectural styles are ex- But you l·ee me and you. We ain't see trouble for nothing, you know
hibited , lie tucked in among these main streets . Other sections of low-income bov. We ain 't lime on dat block dong dey .for n11tting at all. No way!
housing and shantytowns, as well as exclusive colonies of affl uent homes. ra- Dc;h was school, hmther. l-ike school have a teacher, we does teach
roo. Because you meet a man on de street and call out: hey. hey come
diate out from the center toward and beyond the Long Circular Road and the
here. And yo~ ain "t go tell him nutting bad. you go rap with him.
Lady Hailes Highway. Some of them are described in greater detail below.
Now when I studying all dese times and I dig myself now . .. how jar
During the 1960s, youths (ages fourteen to twenty-three) in these low-income J reach, right? It was sometlrinx else, brother. Something else. I
neighborhoods were facing a protracted period of crisis. Their plight was could wrill! it down ... l.fee/ 1 could make a book of it, you know.
identical to the one which their age-mates on the other English-speaking Turner: A book.' Look, 1 look. I watch in ' outside de window, is like if l seeinx
Caribbean islands- Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, myself seein ' everything that use to play [happen] with I, since I was
Grenada- were experiencing. Winnowed out by examinations in the fiercely a little boy coming up . ... It was like grow in' HP in a wilderness . ..
4 Chapter 1 Reviving the Ganja Complex 5

Constable: Boy, dat life was reall); reall_v something. God I Look. his parents. Constable: Wha '?.' You making joke ? l Dah was my times self' Dem was de times
use to he kinda ah hig.family. Dey wasn 't rich. But dey was nice. very se(f' Now ain 't no times! Me ain 't have no times now.'
reJpected. If those parents had gone through life, if my father did go Turner: Imagine. Fete [dance party] in Naparima Bowl [a hall room]. We
through life longer, you find my brother woulda been a hig man in startin' de fete. Because we is de fi rst !il't ah people to reach in dey
government. through my .father. No, serious. ... Look at Mr. Duriry and draHi two, three long tahfes so and it full with stocks [food and
[deputy ma_v or of San Fernando/. He and my father were colleagues. drink] .. .
Dey was pardners. Look at dis woman dey make mayor. Mrs. Kirton. Constable: Men want to wear de best clothes, de sharpest tings. Dar time man
I know she as myfather'sfriend. So we have a part to play, hoy. Ycm fightin' clothes. endless clothes. El'ervday is someting new! Sha rp
understand.? We have a part to play. Look . .. like our family really clothes' When man ketch in ' dey arse gettin 'clothes and ting- we had
mash up. Listen. my family was no kinda down jc1mily, or hand-to- clothes like chupidness . . .
mouth family when my mother and father was afive. Ting was nice Turner: ! was tel/in' Skinner so today. I use to wear hats.'
with dem. My father was doing kinda alright, had a house, shop, a
shoemaker shop . Over 17,000 young persons in the greater San Fernando area were still un-
Turner: In dose times, shoemaker and carpenter use to have dey own work- employed in 1978 , the year in which man y were interviewed for this study,
shop, you knoY.'. Dey was important people, you know. People use to
and they felt keenly the same frustrations which Constable and Turner hadar-
sit dong in dey shop and talk. Dey was big in de church, dey use to
hold good cash. Den deJ• was big in de PNM [political party which
ticulated. Their fates had been in the making for over four centuries. T he
has formed the government since 1956] . .. doomed history had begun wi th the importation of African slaves in the 1500s
Constable: My sister and dem use to sing in de Anglican Church choir. De_v use and had continued under the Spanish, French , British, and nationalist regimes
to play piano. Dis man aunt use to run a private school ... which followed (Sherlock 1966; Curtin 199 1; Parry 1968).
Turner: Dey say frustration. Frustmtion is really something else, you know. In the period of British colonial rule, which began in Trinidad in 1806 and
Well den, dey had a time in my life when I gone to put dong my name ended in 1960, Briti sh government officers . British sugar producers and their
to wuk with the Government Crash Program [stints often days 'l'.'ork
agents , French planters, and Portuguese, Spanish, and African shopkeepers
for needy unemployed workers]. I went so far, man . ..
Constable: No Turner. I sweep de road.
and artisans had commanded a labor force of former African slaves. The lat-
Turner: No, no, listen. Den /tell my little brother. he use to wuk in some white ter had fled the sugar plantations and headed for the towns after Emancipa-
people store: I tell he to go and put dong he name. And he t;one and tion in 1863, and had been replaced by British sugar interests with Indian in-
put dong he name too. As soon as I done do my work, I gone and 1 dentured laborers imported from the Indian subcontinent. A few Chinese, who
do he own. And when I do he own, I gone and put dong my name. You had proved useless earlier as indentured laborers in sugar cultivation , had
understand. Because he was the onliest fella use to give !-how opened small retail shops. Some East Indians had already followed their ex-
much money you go get as a porter in a store? He use to give l some- ample and quit estate work or had come directl y from India, independent of
thing still. My .father ain't alive, my mother in de States. she never
use to send I nuttin' {remittances].
indenture, to do so .
Constable: Before I start to push ganja [sell marijuana] in Short Street, { wuk in
These ethnic populations and strategic interests had realigned themselves
the Borough !the borough councils administer water. se\'v'erage, road but slightly since the 1860s , and then only to make more manifest the basic
repairs, and other maintenance work/. Sexy was de man-when/ say division between haves and have-nots. In the towns, Africans overcame
wuk, dis ain't no crash program. Dat time it was only dem old Indian tremendous odds to secure a place in petty commerce and manufacturing. Le-
people, you know, drunkards who use to sweep de road. First my big gitimate employment benefited only a small proportion of the labor force,
brother come and say he lakin' de work, he can't make [sun•ive]. De while the remainder, like the parents and relatives of Constable and Turner,
man was cryin'. But he didn't have nuttin '. Nul tin', sah! Den l come,
produced and exchanged goods and services , ranging from shoes to piano les-
and had was to take dat same work. I pay to fuckin ' {earn, boy. I pay.
I pa); I pay, I pay dearly. 1 pavfor m ih mother, mihfather dem too.
sons , in a thriving informal economy (see preface and chapter 8). Indeed, un-
So I pay to learn. Nobody not fuckin' me up. No way, no way. Any- til the early 1960s, the informal economy worldwide probably equaled or sur-
time J talk about dat, my eyes does full, you know. passed the formal sector in value and was responsible for the labor shortages
Turner: Dah is what I tell you just now: don't let we talk about dat. Because it of which colonial administrators complained (Myrdal 1944). Supported in-
have rings I does remember back too and it does hurt/. So dati don't digenously by the informal sector, a literate class of African publishers , au-
really like to link about it. Well den, dem times was nice times, eh? thors, scholars, civil servants, schoolteachers , clergymen, skilled workers,
6 Chapter 1 Reviving tlze Ganja Complex 7

and clerks was eventually formed whose sons would provide civic and polit- with Dr. Eric Williams, who became the pri me minister of the independent
ical leadership in coming decades. nation in 1960 and remained in power until his death in 1982 . had seen the
A boost to both sectors of the economy was given by the discovery of oil challenge of self-governmen t as follows:
in 1910 and the subsequent establishment of oil fields and a refinery. While
The governments of these territories have got to sit d own and p lan and decide , in
persons of European ancestry or expatriates monopolized the top executive view of the general level o f social life and econom ic life, in v iew of the special sit-
and managerial positions, African and Indian workers secured well-paid, uation in the countryside , in view of the dange rous po litical pressur es wh ich the un-
unionized jobs in the industry. T he trade union leadership became a force in employment and other prob lems are bring ing to bear o n the government , they will
the 1920s and 1930s for the advancement of non-Europeans in the Caribbean have to decide what industries will be necessary to estab lish .. . ir respective of the
through self-representation in government and the education of the young. tr<tdi ti onal p rofit mot ivc.lf we bad 150 years ... there wou ld be no need for the tele-
The colonial era was brought to an effective end in 1944, at the close of the scoping of economic developments . But I sec no poss ibility o f indiv idual en trcprc ~
ncurs . e ither inside the West Ind ies or from o utside the West Indies. develo p ing the
Second World War, although independent nationhood would be achieved later,
economy to a pi tch at wh ich it wi ll be possibl e to feel that the economy is a going
in 1960. Another economic boom had occurred during the war years, when lo- concern and sure to move forward . taking up the increases in popu lati on as time goes
cal contractors and workers were in demand to build military bases and to pro- o n. I can not see it be ing done by private enterprise in the old sense of the term. T here
vision American troops. But processes of modernization and development bas to be a set p lan , in which the State, tak ing all needs into cons ideration . not
brought the economy and society of the islands more closely under American merely the ord in ary eco nomic demands but the soc ial necessities of the population ,
hegemony. The old British banks and companies were replaced by American w ill decide o n a p rog ramme . .. to satis fy the urgen t needs of the people and , this is
ones. and many lines of local production, or the mainstays of the informal very important becau se th is is the political issue, to make an im patient peop le un -
derstand that som e ser ious , tremendous , new an d su stained effort is being m ade to
economy, were commodified and brought into the formal sector. Local pro-
satis fy the demands which arc increasin g everyday (James 19 6 1).
duction withered in favor of imports, and instead of the labor shortages of yes-
teryear, high rates of unemployment were now reported. Instead , under the pressure to Americanize and to become su bordinate to
Following closely upon the shrinking job markets were waves of sustained American global political and economic imperatives, the independent go v-
migration, both legal and illegal, to the United States, Canada, and Europe. ernment gave up dependence upon one metropolis to become subservient to
More than any other single cause, the removal of older adults or persons over the other:
twenty-five years of age through migration in the postwar period precipitated
the breakup of families, or their reordering into transnational entities (Sutton Little by little they were worn d own until they are busy bu ildin g schoo ls, bui ld ing
1990), and the rapid decline of housing stock and local neighborhoods in sev- roads, West lnd ianizing, an d beggi ng for grants, loans, investments .. . Dr. Wi lliams
eral Caribbean territories. . . . was going to show the oil comp an ies where to get o ff . He was the mortal enemy
of the American State Dep artment and the C olonial Off ice . B ut now he is finished
The achievement of national sovereignty and independence from British
with all that. (James I 962 . I 62) .
rule brought few material improvements. A particular bitterness which young
people like Constable and Turner felt was directed toward the People's Na- A more rece nt comment summarized the PNM achievement smcc inde-
tional Movement (PNM), the political party which had been forming the na- pendence as follows:
tional government since 1956 and which had Jed the country to independence
in 1960. Many of them had been in middle childhood or adolescence when In the fi nal an alysis , the PNM d id not know how to use the political control which it
the party had led public campaigns to bolster national identity, to encourage had won in 1956 and we m ust see that th is f ai lu re falls str ictly in the logic of Afro ~
pride in islanders' non-European ancestry, and to commit the country to pro- Saxon strategy which we ada pted in the nineteenth century. Accu stomed to advanc-
ing by deny ing ou r own worth, we have found it easier to rely on outside help in our
grams to alleviate unemployment and to remove the vestiges of four centuries
q uest for change. We have fou nd it easier to rely on a Doctor [W illiams] than to take
of racism and white supremacy. up our own beds and walk .
But the dismantling of colonialism and the campaign for national sover- Instead of dealing with sugar, petroleum and the banks . in stead of breaking the
eignty and independent government had actually been the prerequisites for metr opolitan stranglehold o n the econ omy which h ad kept the West Indian people in
the Americanization of the economy and society, with its consequences of un- chain s from the start, W illiam s and the PNM adopted the Lew is [Sir W. Arthur Lewis,
employment and migration. C. L. R. James, one of the founders of the PNM a Nobel prize- winning economist] p rescriptio n of industrialization by invitation. We
8 Chapter I Reviving the Car~ja Complex 9
hoped for economic transformation by borrowing capital. by borrowing management ,
Discoveries of fresh marine oil deposits and the increase in petroleum
by kowtowi ng befo re every manner of alien expert we wu ld find.
We failed to sec that this kind of dependence in our territorial context a mounted
prices won by the OPEC in 1973 quadrupled the value of the oil ind ustry and
to nothing but obsequio usness, servility. and in the last resort. to a shattering vote of the share of gove rnment revenues . The increase , which has made Trinidad
no-confidence in the popu lation of Trinidad and Tobago (Best I 970. 4). and Tobago the richest Caribbean nation. has not altered the traditional pat-
tcm. It has enabled the government to build, with Japanese technical assis-
Thus, in the area of the economy. the most recalcitrant feature had been pri- tance. an iron and steel plan t costi ng over $4 billion. The plant will em ploy
mary production for export under foreig n control dominating both agriculture fewer than 400 persons pe rmanently, will requ ire contin ued foreign assis-
and industry. The arra ngement remained firmly in place after independence. tance to operate, is dependent upon imported raw materia ls, and will compete
For example, the oil industry. which produces 81 percent of the value of total fo r an American market at a time when American companies are demanding
gross exports and contributes 20 percent of GNP " is in many respects a clas- tariff protection. No other sorts of enterprise have been encouraged by the
sic case of the effects of foreign direct investment through the multinational newfound prosperity.
corporation controlling the important natural resources of a small underde- In agriculture , Trinidad still devotes 21 1,300 of its 270.000 acres of arable
veloped country" (Farrell 1974). It is unresponsive to local economic needs , land to primary production for export: 12 1,000 in cocoa and 90,000 in sugar.
can employ on ly 15 ,000 (or 5 percent of total employment), and cannot be Agriculture accounts for only 8 percent of total gross exports but employs 20
expanded. Government , having no control over decisions affecting employ- percent of the labor force.
ment, type of output, and the organization of production, finds itself in one Primary production for export, especially of sugar, has had serious adverse
stroke deprived of potential revenues and of control over important sectors of effects not on ly upon the economy. but also upon social re lations on the is-
the national economy. land. On the one hand , the economy is particularly vulnerable to pricing de-
The dominance of a foreign-controlled oil industry also encourages the sur- c is ions faced abroad and to the sec uring of pre ferential markets . The history
render of other economic control s, through monetary policy, de valuation op- of sugar production on the island has included depressions, layoffs. and low
tions , and the like, which governments usually stri ve to retain for themselves. wages . At the same time, the plantations have been historically the scene of
Since the industry serves as a model for all other manufacturing ventures, the oppress ion of persons, fi rst of slaves and then of Indian indentured labor-
only the package of high capital costs, foreign finance , modern imported ers . Because of the plantations, the growth of a class of peasant farmers, and
technology and technicians, and high wages but restricted employment has of manufacture rs and processors of agricul tural produce, had been curbed.
succeeded in producing value. Expansions of the oil industry, such as the fer- Today, es tates , which are only I percent of a ll farm s, still control 40 percent
tilizer plant and paint facto ries, are examples of such s uccesses; but in this of farm lands.
area also, the oil companies have been indifferent to stimulating growth and The result of these conditions is that Trinidad and Tobago is unable to feed
creating jobs and have neglected opportunities to produce petrochemicals, itse lf. Since imported food is sold at inflated prices, many of its citizens who
plastics, and synthetic fibers, materials with which further industry could be are without jobs or who are underemployed go without food staples . The
built. Other successes arc those industries - car assembly. breweries - which ready solution - to create new jobs by growing more food - is not easily
arc jointly operated wi th foreign investors. achieved . The historic association of agriculture with plantations, and planta-
By contrast. industry and manufacturing which is controlled and financed by tions with slavery or quasi-slavery, works against it, as do the higher wages
local investors are cautious and impermanent. tending to collapse when tax hol- and better working condi tions offered by foreign-fi nanced industry. Govern-
idays, accelerated depreciation , tax-free imports of raw materials and equipment, ment has been unable to find candidates to take its offers of crown lands and
and other such inducements are removed. Forays into quarrying and producing agricultural loans; local investors fa vor only meat production reliant on im-
construction materials, or into food processing and the manufacture of garments ported stock feeds , imported tastes , and foreign techniques of production and
and shoes, are made with the expectation of rapid turnovers, timed to periods of distribution .
boom generated e lsewhere, and subject to rapid transfers of capital. In the past The principal areas in which growth has been experienced in the economy.
twenty-five years, or in five five-year budget periods, in which generous in- particularly with respect to the employment problem , have been the pub lic
ducements were offered, no more than 500 new industries have been created, services and the commercial sectors. The PNM govern ment, unable to expand
yielding about 15,000 jobs: many of them became defunct a few years later. either industry or agriculture, has itself provided over 50 percent of the jobs
10 Chapter 1 Reviving the Ganja Complex II

created while it has been in power. It maintains embassies abroad and a The egregious warning, with its casual assumptions concerni ng the nature
swollen civil serv ice at home, and has added to the ranks of its army and po- and reality of racial difference, evidently had a manifold impact upon the
lice. It has employed over 45.000 young persons in a Special Works Program, PNM way of thinki ng. The maintenance of the colonial social structure was
the disguised dole which Constable and Turner had discussed. an immediate resul t. Indians would rema in unknowable in the countryside,
Commercial businessme n have been the only class to protit from the gov- and in the ir rapid encroachment upon land ownership and the retail trades; the
ernment's policy of foreign-aided development. With the recently swollen oil Chi nese were to be inscrutable behind their flo urishing bus inesses; Europeans
revenues dri vi ng the price of foreign manufactures still higher, the importers wou ld maintain their dominant economic and cultu ral positio ns and rema in
and retailers of c lothes, electronics, furniture, home accessori es , motorcars, unapproachable behind the color barrier; while Africans , by virtue of their
office equipment, tools, toys, books, and food have grown in number. Since majority number, would constitute the nation ( in which other groups were
1973, their businesses are being constantly renovated and modernized, em- therefore minorities) and decide which government it should have . 'T he last
ploying management. advertising, and accounting techniques developed in apo logy or excuse fo r colonization will have been removed when Caribbean
American e nterprises . They have brightened town centers, as well as the democracy can prove that mino rity rights arc quite safe in its hands."
shopping malls created especially to aggregate them , thro ughout the island. (Williams 1957)
Foreign banks. serving these businesses, have also multiplied: in addition to Dr. Williams had shown the same conservatism with respect to the iss ue of
the British banks of the colon ial era. such as Barc lays and the Royal Bank of mi nority rights in his constitutional proposals in 195X for a self-governing
Canada, there are the new facilities built by Citibank , Chase Manhattan , the Trinidad and Tobago. While pressing for a po pularly elected lower chamber,
Bank of Nova Scotia, Chemical Bank , and other American financ ial institu- from which the government would be selected, he conceded to the second
tions. Through franchises to local operators, Kentucky Fried Chicken , Mc- chamber of nominated members, among whom vested interests would be rep-
Donald 's , and Pizza Hut add to the postmodem glass-and-steel glamour. resented , powers far in excess of those enjoyed by the British House of Lords
In the area of the econo my, therefore, an antiquated, mal integrated, and in- on which it was modeled. The second chamber in Trinidad, for example, was
etficicnt structure had been preserved. The industrial parks and shopping able to delay legislation in nonfinancial matters for as lo ng as twenty-four
malls have advanced along the northeast corridor and the north- south axis. months. It appeared as though he was personally afraid of the support his na-
homogen iz ing former agricultural communities into continuous urbanized tionali st rhetoric had elicitied: ''the delaying power of twel ve months enjoyed
swaths of brig ht lights and modem conveniences. Small towns like Cha- by the House of Lords in Britain should be extended to twenty-fo ur months
guanas and Princes Town have been transformed into cities where commerce in Trinidad , as the system is new and as we have only a limi ted experience of
has been concentrated and an expanded class of middle-income workers is democratic process. That experience dates back o nly thirty-two years , a short
housed. But the structure nevertheless does not satisfy local needs for em- time in the life of a man and an ins ig nificant period in the life of a country."
ployme nt and reasonable prices for essential goods and services. (Williams 1955)
The same is true of social relations. In the modernization ideology of the In reality, the facts of everyday Trinidadian life belied these elaborate pre-
Trinidadian moneyed classes, the pluralist conception of Caribbean social struc- cautions. For example, over 17 percent of the Trinidadian population is of
ture, bequeathed by metropolitan social science and accepted as conventional mixed origin. Africans and Indians had struggled in unity against the British
wisdom , has rendered invaluable service . In this view, the populations of the is- for many decades and had cooperated in a general strike in 1937. There were
land arc distinct from o ne another, not by their di vision into classes or according Indi an and African socialists who were committed to a common working-
to their usefulness to the metropole, but by the differential shape of key cultural class ideology. Among nati ve-born Trinidadian Europeans also, there had
institutio ns. This belief precludes the hope of achieving a society, in the sense of been a small but highly effective populist element. Primary and secondary
an organic whole of cooperating participants, and has justified a politics of ac- schooling, sports, and re ligion were also arenas in which the different races
commodation , compromi se. and reformism rather than one of radical change. and ethnicities commingled, sometime s competiti vel y, often har mon iously.
Thus, Sir W. Arthur Lewis. the West Indian economist whose views had Race in Trinidadian pol itics, in the 1955- 1963 period in which it was m ost
shaped the PNM's economic policy. had written : "A community which is virulent, has proven to be an effect of the narrowness of political ambitions.
mixed racially needs, more than other communities, to create for itself social O n the one hand, there was Dr. Williams and his party of African profession-
and economic institutions which are broadly accepted." (Lewis 1950) als determined to show little more than that the black man could do the same

1
12 Chapter l Revi vinf? the Ganja Complex 13

things as well as white men. In the speech which gave birth to the People's Men 's horizons are conditioned by the historical circumstances in which
National Movement (PNM), he had used the example of discriminatory prac- they find themselves . Dr. Williams had described his ruefully:
tices against himself as a black academician seeking employment in Trinidad,
to declare: Fou r and a half centuries of metropo litan contro l would weigh like an A lp . in the po-
litical sense . o n the head of any country . They we ighed equally, however, on Ireland,
The issues arc not personal, but political; they involve not a single individual , but the so that the ti me factor must not be exaggerated. But it must not be minim ized . The
West Indian people ... mine w;1s not an individual case .... I stand before you tonight other co lon ial are;1s of the world have been somewhat more fortunate than the West
... the representative of a principle. a cause and a defeat. The principle is the principle Indies . One hund red years . . . of Briti sh hegemony in the Gold Coast , sixty years of
of intellectual freedom. The cause is the cause of the West Indian people. The defeat is British control of Nigeria, a cen tury and a quarter of French rule in Algeri a, made it
the defeat of the policy of not appointing local men to high office (Williams 1955). imposs ible for imperi alist attitudes to harden and crystallize to a s imil ar e xtent as in
the West Ind ies. From another angle. the vast size of India or Indonesia red uced met-
On the other hand, there was Dr. Capildeo and his party of Indian profession- ropo li tan overlordship to a control at the top hardly to uching directly or visible to the
millio ns of peasants at the bottom; the West Indies . by co ntrast, are so small that
als, eager not to lose the opportunity to win the same recognition for Asians.
colon ialism was something you touched , saw, heard, and fe lt everyday everywhere .
When it appeared that the electorate had denied it to him by resoundingly de-
All these other victims of imperialism have had decisive ad vantages over the West
feating him at the polls, the good doctor resorted to hysterical calls to arms. Ind ies. They had a language of their own, a culture of their own, a religio n of their
Behind the racist rhetoric, however, a more sharply and transparently di- own as in India, a famil y structure of their o wn as in Ghana , a sense of values of their
vided version of the colonial society was forming. Economic forces have by own which they co uld o ppose to Western Imperialism. We in the West Ind ies have
themselves clarified its structure and reinforced it. Since 1970, when the nothing of our o wn- a few artifacts and place names are all that remain of the abo-
growing numbers of the urban unemployed had attempted revolution (see be- riginal civilization. We are a peo ple transplanted into slavery to a transpl anted crop ,
low), the possession of wealth or secure employment had become a single in- and we have remained political satellites of the metropolitan economy whose eco-
nom ic interests we were intended to serve . We have become in the Martiniquan say-
terest to defend, uniting persons of every race, persons having different be-
ing "peau no ir, masque blanc." a black skin. a white mask. a European culture in an
liefs and enjoying in fact variable degrees of privilege. Thus a polyethnic, Afro-Asian environ ment . That is o ur history. This is o ur heritage. That is our
multiclass cause was forged, which supported the present government chiefly di lemma (Williams 1960) .
because its police had been successful in containing rebellion. Today, well-to-
do or upwardly mobile Trinidadians no longer call their Jess fortunate neigh- This lament-that a Caribbean culture does not exist and cannot exist- is
bors "coolie" or "nigger," the derogatory names for Indians and Africans: gainsaid by the events to be described in this book, but it is the wisdom pre-
they use a racially neutral term which is more abrasive because it is packed siding over the PNM regard for culture. Having failed to recognize real social
with the stuff of raw experience- "scrunter" (one who has nothing, one who movements among the population (or having grown hostile to them) and hav-
is rooting about for something, like a pig does). "Scrunters" in turn have no ing neglected to participate in developing economic institutions which actually
use for making racial distinctions among themselves. serve everyone, the government was unable to recognize a national life which
The changed shape of social relations has been registered in the composi- required institutions and resources through which it might be strengthened .
tion of PNM representatives over time; and especially of the Cabinet minis- Two cultures had formed in Trinidad in 1978, one do minant, the other still
ters who seemed to exert most influence on the prime minister. 1 Beginning as emergent. The dominant one was that of the social classes which supported
a predominantly African group possessing few assets beyond education and the government and its policy of Americanization . Competitiveness, corrupt-
newly won political power, today its prominent members include wealthy In- ibility, materialism, consumerism, and adoration of the metropolitan life are
dians with close, publicly acknowledged ties to business fortunes. Indians all expressed in its mythic vocabulary. This culture does not need new educa-
prominent in the opposition have also been bought over by ambassadorial ap- tional approaches, national archives, historical or social research, theater, or
pointments and lucrative government contracts. As a result there has been no the arts. A television set and a passport are sufficient. Its symbols are those of
effective opposition in the country. the glossy adverti sements , showing happy, polyethnic (b ut fair-skinned) gath-
Under PNM tutelage, therefore, none of the divisions among Trinidadians erings in fashionable settings , with people drinki ng rum under blue skies and
had been exorcised; but rather all had been submerged beneath a single, more a clear sun. A study of the aspirations of youth in the mid-1 960s had noted the
insidious one. degree to which consumerism and social apathy have been formative in the
14 Chapter 1 Reviving the Ganja Complex 15

lives of moneyed Trinidadians (Rubin and Zavalloni 1969). An analysis of the elites barricaded themselves in luxurious suburbs and consolidated their
essays of the Trinidadian European secondary school students from profes- wealth and power, they functioned as gangs of young adult property offend-
sional or business backgrounds revealed their utter indifference to school. In- ers. Finally, after a brief political and cultural revival, they vanished as a so-
stead the ir repeated concerns were about security and the maintenance of a ciocultural form.
sun-soaked, privileged lifestyle. The African and Indian students, w ho became San Fernandian limes descended these rungs of the ladder to extinction.
the important persons or government ministers in the 1990s, had expressed a When World War II ended , areas of low-income housing comprised nearly all
"messianic" interest in social conditions; but they reported an equall y intense of the c ity. Onl y the predominantly white suburbs of St. Joseph's Village and
drive to acquire the material possessions which conferred status. Vistabella, and two residential enclaves where wealthy Indians had built
The attitude of the Trinidadian European students had become the norm for homes, were set apart. The rest of the city was subdivided into several neigh-
the whole gradu ati ng class by 1978, and the messianic urge of their African borhoods where the majority of African and Indian San Fernandians lived. The
and Indian schoolmates had been quite submerged under the successful accu- boundaries of each neighborhood were defi ned by the common use of a Chi-
mulation of wealth . On the part of the emergent elites, th erefore, their culture nese-owned shop for daily provisions, or of facilities such as standpipes or
also betrayed bad conscience. e lectricity or telephone junctions; by the postman's or itinerant vendor's stake-
The culture of the dominant class was widely expressed in the everyday out of the city; and chiefly, by settlement patterns based on kinship, affinal ,
lives of the unde rprivileged and disenfranchised , but it often malfunctioned and other social ties. Prominent neighborhoods where many events reported in
there. The fashionable gatherings of rum drinkers too often degenerated into this book took place are long-established, lower-class , nonwhite communities:
the drunken brawl. Among the poor and unemployed , competitiveness and Prince Alfred Street, Roy Joseph 's Scheme , Rush worth Street, Bertrand Street,
corruptibility translate into woundings and homicides; materialism and con- Coffee Street, Cipero Street, Mon Repos, Yi stabella, and Navet.
sumerism equals theft , the police , the courts , and prison; while adoration of These neighborhoods housed nonwhite San Fernandians indiscriminatel y.
the me tropo litan life without an airplane ticket can o nly be expressed throug h They lived in uniformly modest structures, many unpainted and unadorned and
self-hatred and frustration. Low-income Trinidadians, therefore, were obliged constructed by homegrown architect<> with very individual approaches to style
to identify themselves through other symbols than those offered by the glossy and design. Most properties were unfenced and permitted an uninterrupted flow
photographs. ln the first place, their culture must be therapy and repair. of traffic and social intercourse between homes from street to street.
That work of ther apy and repair, aided by the use of marijuana, is described Despite their outward appearance, however, neighborhoods were by no
in subsequent chapters. means homogeneous: between neighbors, there were critical differences in
occupational status, prestige , and prospects which were not clearly recog-
ni zed or appreciated in the 1950s. The Prince Alfred Street neig hborhood was
THE LIMES typical of their composition during that decade . It contained thirty-four
ho useholds in twenty-four houses, with fifty-nine adults, an unnumbered cat-
The modification of social relations in Trinidadian and Caribbean communi- egory of o lder siblings, and seventy-one children under the age of s ixteen.
ties can be chronicled by the changes of structure and functi on which the Among the latter were some of the young unemployed persons who are the
ne ig hborhood " limes" had endured . Constable and Turner had di scussed them major actors in this book.
in their conversatio n. These street com er associations of mature adult males Among the adults , the parents of these youngsters , were: two families of
(Liebow 1962; Whyte 1959), to which boys were occasio nally admitted, were foreigners, both jewelers from Bo mbay, India; an Indian upholsterer; a Chi-
assembled fo r many recreational purposes (sports , rum drinking, gambling), nese shopkeeper; an Indian printer; an African lay preacher; an Indian law
but also served as networks through which labor and capital could be mobi- clerk; two teachers, one African, one Indian; an African trade-union presi-
lized for productio n in the thr iving and extensive informal econo my (see pref- dent, an Indian assistant town clerk; and an Indian junior staff officer at the
ace and chapter 8). Indigeno us artistic production , including the world-fa- Texaco oil refinery.
mous steel band , calypso, and carnival , also issued from them. But as the There were also: the African proprietress of a "parlor" (a small shop lo-
informal economy was emptied subsequently in the period of modernization, cated in one of the rooms of her home), an Indian taxi driver, four Boroug h
they degenerated into the play group of adolescents. Then, as modernizing Council laborers (two Indian and two African), an Indian car salesman, an
\
16 Chapter 1 Revivinf? the GanJa Complex 17

Indian mechanic. two African seamen, an African butcher, and an African Among those leaving for the United States were: seven teachers , fi ve Indian
night watchman. and two African; three Indi ans with clerical skills; an African music teacher;
Then there were: an African washerwoman; two African sweepers, hus- two African nurses ; an African policeman; an African carpenter; an African ca-
band and wife; two African bottle-retrievers-and-washers; the African mis- lypsonian; and an African musician. The migration of several others of this age
tress of a wealthy Creole contractor; an Indian nut seller; an Indian sweet- category could not be traced during fieldwork.
meats seller; an Indian who was an itinerant hardware peddler in the The removal of young adult workers from the community, as well as the
countryside; and an African freelance joiner/carpenter. commodification of lines of local production (for example, food prepared on
Limes were the street comer associations of adult males through which the sidewalk had been replaced by foreign fast-food franchises) destroyed
multiple interactions were mediated among the different strata of neighbors. many of the earlier functions of the lime and particularly its role as the cor-
Just as uniformly modest housing concealed them, the variety of interper- nerstone of the informal economy.
sonal relationships which were developed in the lime, under an ideology of A new phase in the structure and function of the limes thus occurred when
equality and local loyalty, also masked the hierarchization and variance they were inherited by the succeeding generation during the late 1960s and
among adults. Representatives of both the formal and informal economic sec- early 1970s. With the introduction of free universal education in 1955 and the
tors cooperated through the lime for mutual advantage. Thus, in addition to demise of the informal economy in the 1960s, the competition for upward
the ties of kinship and affinity, which united nine African and five Indian mobility was focused powerfully upon the educational performances of
households, patron-client ties forged in the lime coupled other households. younger children. The educational system in Trinidad requires entrants to sur-
Neighbors with respectable jobs in the formal economy organized esusus vive hurdles at ages eleven, sixteen, and eighteen and at each stage r uthlessly
(credit associations) and kept money in trust for the others. They advanced it, eliminates failures , or the majority. Thus parents and older siblings were com-
with literate and informed assistance, to launch small businesses, such as a pelled to fi nance private tuition and enlisted church and neighborhood sup-
tire repair service, a market stall, or a taxicab. They also contributed profes- port to ensure academic success for younger children. The popular belief fol-
sional services- accounting or legal assistance-to these businesses. Al- lowing self-government was that there were unlimited opportunities for the
though only two motorcars distinguished their owners' compounds, in an suitably educated: the competition to secure school places or redeem lost ones
emergency they were placed, with the few telephones and refrigerators, at the caused families considerable anxiety.
service of the needy. The joiner/carpenter, the washers and sweepers, and the The optimistic beliefs, as well as the competitive and contrary emotions re-
food sellers earned the major portion of their incomes in the neighborhood it- leased by actual dramas of acquiring and securing status, were exuberantly
self, but at discounted prices which benefited the neighbors. The Chinese expressed by youngsters when left to themselves. Deprived of designated or
shopkeeper guaranteed the credit without which cash-poor neighbors could equipped play areas and other recreational facilities , but enjoying freedom of
not survive, but in return monopolized the market for day-to-day grocery and movement throughout the neighborhood , they converted the lime into a play
household needs. Finally, small neighborhood churches and political ties fur- group.
ther integrated the neighborhood. During the 1955 electoral campaign, the en- In this form, juveniles, mostly male, lacking leaders and often suffering
tire Prince Alfred Street neighborhood, both African and Indian, supported parental disapproval , convened on every possible occasion for sports- foot-
the People's National Movement (the so-called African party) and was a base ball, cricket, volleyball, marbles , draughts, kite fl ying, wrestling, and many
for party organizers. others-or to engage in learning , discussion, and joking sessions. Intense
At the same time, other forces were already at work to enlarge the differ- competitiveness animated all these activities . When, however, a lime con-
ences between neighbors. New opportunities which self-government had fronted limes of other neighborhoods , it found itself unified by exclusive re-
opened up had excited the ambitions and competitiveness of all non-European cruitment from a neighborhood and by remaining kinship ties. Clashes be-
Trinidadians. Positions as civil servants or political party functionaries , in the tween limes were frequent; and the territorial assets of a neighborhood, such
police, in the army, and in development projects were now accessible to qual- as fruit trees, sports gear, or unoccupied spaces (empty lots and abandoned
ified nationals. The postwar economic boom in America was also absorbing buildings), had to be vigorously defended.
migrant labor. On Prince Alfred Street, for example, almost the entire category Important areas of the childhood experience of all non-European San Feman-
of older siblings was migrating out of the neighborhood during the 1950s. dians were filtered thus through the lime. Persons separated today by wealth and
18 Chapter 1 Revivin8 the Ganja Complex 19

social distance had shared through it critical developmental stages of childhood. now I reali::.e dat dat wasn 't really me. And all of you will come around to dat un-
When a magistrate convicts a marijuana user, for example, the two may well der.\·tandin ' too. you know. Well. Boots accuse me of be in' a racist and an exploiter.
As I was sayin,' I pass through all de stages of limin' with dese fellas and when flO-
have shared a common backyard and the youthful adventures it had sponsored.
body had moner, it was my father's pocket change what keep it goin ·, you dig. We
The polarization of class attitudes, especially when it occurs in as brief a
play sports /Of?ether. we hang outtof?ether. All around 1970 so, I had my symparhiel·:
process as it has been in Trinidad, is painfully felt in a small city like San I use to have a little place up on the Coffee where dey use to come and put on dancirr'
Fernando. Everyone is distressed and pushed into extreme attitudes. A shows, drummin', skits and plenty talk. All around den de ganja tinf? come up: I use
prominent San Fernandian businessman, enriched by the modernization of to buy it. fuse to use my contacts in de country to show some of dem same brothers
his enterprise, was asked to recall the history of the city and his boyhood. He where to get it. But now as you see dese accusations comin ' strong, and when you
speaks of the lime as a lost childhood paradise and for this very reason flirts see men bumin ' dong people swre in Port-of-Spain-and dey threatening somethin '
with the idea of a police state as a solution to the problems of his former lim- for Carnival dong here too-well/ have to choose my side, you see. Long ago, peo-
ple here use to laugh about a military takeover and .m on. But now p eople talkin ' dij~
ing partners:
ferently. Chief Inspector Burroughs hand/in' this situation by shootin' on sight, and
Yrm ever read James' cricket commentaries and 'Beylmd a Boundan '? You should I for one hm•e m)lhin' to say about it.
look at them, you kno~~ Den you get a Rood picture of the richness -of de lime. De Dey had somethin' about Trinidad long ago. You see me ? I would never leave this
language. boy. And de skills. Dah is why you see I really happy we still Jivin ·in the country to go and se11le anywhere. A man wants a place over his head, some secrl-
heart of town. And then. you see. the business is an old one too. So mv children still rity, mmethin 'for his children. Dat is all there is to it. And if you could have it with
sun~-Jrine tlrrmvn in, and de sea ... and well, life more leisurely here. I was in Lon-
growing up around.
But dem lim in' days was the best of my life. Out ofschool, home to leave m}· books don for a ~·Jriie, you know. Every time I remember one of dose rushes at de subway
and to change. and is dong the hill. Sometimes I didn't even go home from .school. station, dat .wme moment my mind blank out you know; and it openin' up .. . on To·
James does describe where he really learn to appreciate good batting and good hago. Yeah, I have a piece of land there: de place is like a balm. Any time you see
sportsmanship. From the limers. From de people on de street. rings goin ' hard, my mind doe.~ just tum on Tobago.
Well you know my family is half-Indian, half-black. My mother's people are real No, long ago in Trinida d people use to live together. Not everybody was rich. but
Creoles, old-time Trinidadians. Dey used to own estates and a lumber business. And you didn't find people srarvin ' here. People use to do their business. but they still use
den my father's people from de plantation: hard-working Indian people. But he was to find time to sit dong and lime together. play sports together, cooperate, you know.
into all kinds of things: a really unusual man. I have to say. You know, he used to he Everybody know their place, ym1 see. But dey spoil it up. Dey really spoil it up.
very active in sports: he was one of the pioneers in boxing in Trinidad. He didn't box
himself but he promoted boxers. That's what I'm try in ' to sa); you see. When I was By the early 1960s, the optimism which had characterized the previous
gmwin' up, we used to know all sorts of people: not only Creoles and lndiam· on a decade had been dissipated in the minds of many who had supported the anti-
standin' with my parents, you understand: hut with the boxers, cricketeers, athletes, colonialist campaign and the nationalist government. Citizens found out that
people who used to work for us, carpenters and so on from the neighborhood. Dose the opportunities were limited. In the Prince Alfred Street neighborhood, for
were the people I used to lime with: their children and families. A sort of respect and example, twelve out of the forty-three young males who had limed together
mutual understandin 'used to exist. were singled out by their educational attainment or parental favor. Henceforth ,
Well, of course, I have no social contact with dese people anymore. Trinidad
the two groups would be distinguished by dress, speech patterns, range of ex-
chan8e over the years. And a lot of them just waste their lives, to be blunt. Your fa -
ther don 't have to starr off in hul·iness or anything like that for you to succeed. Dey tra neighborhood contacts, and interests generally. Eventually, the twelve
have opportunities hut people don't take them. Look, the government push jobs. Spe- would produce a management consultant, three university lecturers (PhDs), a
cial Works, scholarship. housin '-but the young f ellas in town feel dey too high to do magistrate, a university lecturer (PhD)/Iibrarian , a doctoral student (as of
low work, or some foolishness. How it is the Indian succeedin '_? Dev have endless 1978), and five qualified (BA or MA) secondary school teachers. Five of them
Indian millionaires around. And as for this Rasia business, well if dai is not chupid· reside permanently abroad, four in the United States and one in Jamaica .
ne.H, tell me what is. Is very foolish 10 be a Rasta. is as simple as dat: you goin ·to The physical appearance of neighborhoods also began to change. Through-
get put in jail. So why dey wearin 'dese locks?
out the 1960s, the houses of the more prosperous, when they had not migrated
/ 'lltell you .mmethin ': the other day Boots came in here and start beratin' me in
front of de whole place. Dat jackass Daniel was here stirrin ·it up: dat is the work of to suburbs or abroad, were being extended, renovated, or completely rebuilt,
all you intellectuals. it look like. I use to feel dat way too. Dar I above it all, dat de and strong fences were built to protect them. The remaining housing, however,
mind is de important thing and havin' ideals and havin' concern and all dat. Well, had torn roofs, unreliable flooring, broken windows, and muddy, unkempt
20 Chapter l R£~vi v inf? the Ganja Complex 21

compounds, and were under constant threat of demolition by landlords eager to the day: the "bad john." Typically, the bad john would be prominent in his
build commercial space or more luxurious, high-rent housing. By the end of the lime on account of his courage and daring in street fights, or because of su-
decade, only fourteen of the thirty-four households on Prince Alfred Street re- perior skill in pl aying the steel pans, in criminal activities, and in physical
mained. Several houses had been tom down, and only thirty-three adults contin- combat. Against other limes, he was an aggressive war chief. By the 1960s,
ued to live there. Three landlords had acquired all the property on the street; one bad johns had impressive records of arrests , convictions, and imprisonments .
had fenced in the entire area that had once been occupied by nine houses and had Often the bad john acted on behalf of landlords, businessmen, and politicians
made a sort of playground and pleasure garden for himself and his children. against competitors, bad debtors, and troublesome tenants . He spent what
Throughout the 1960s, therefore, another shift in the function of the lime money he had on the upkeep of mistresses, and on clothes, jewelry, partying
had been occurring. Gradually it had become the exclusive property of the and liquor, restaurants, movies, and gambling. The bad john cut a style which
young adolescents not selected for advancemen t. Kinship and ne ighborhood many young Trinidadians desired to emulate. Constable was clai ming to have
ties of sociality had been eroded. Plagued also by daily domestic squabbles been one when he boasted about the way women su pported and served hi m .
over upkeep and other expenses, these limers were nearl y always on the In the mid~ 1960s, the viability of this sort of life lessened: the bad johns in
street. Denied access to further education or employme nt, they had no money particular were hemmed in by the de rigueur duels and clashes and by police
just as the ethic of consumerism had gained ground in Trinidad . arrests and imprisonments. A few became converts to evangelical Christian
Thus making money again became a major preoccupation of the remaining sects or Islam (Black Muslims) and " testified" (preached) their faith at busy
limers, but in the absence of the info rmal economy which had thri ved earlier. street corners. where huge crowds were drawn to the spectacle of a famous
Most individuals combined legal and illegal means to earn a living. Among criminal speaking sacred words. But a greater number were among the
the legal means were the costumed carnival bands and steel bands (steel pans speaker/organizers who were now differentiating themselves among limers,
are high-quality musical instruments created from discarded oil drums), urging " peace and love" among the "brothers" and abstinence from liq uor,
which offered seasonal employment to musicians, instrument makers, de- gambling, and violence . Their discourse foc used on their common social
signers, wire benders, mask makers, tailors. and vendors. Producing artistic problems. In the e nd, therefore , the limes assumed an overtly grass roots po-
or recreational items such as toys, Christmas trees , kites, and handicrafts was litical function .
another lucrative occupation for the nimble-fingered . Such incomes were At the time, the tastes of unemployed Trinidadians were being altered in re-
supplemented by odd jobs - carting, laboring, c utting hedges and lawns, sponse to new stimuli from abroad. The civil rights struggle in America. and later
working as mechanics , carpenter' s and mason 's assistants , mattress make rs, the struggle against the Vietnam War, preoccupied islanders. New fashions in
and the like . Illegal means were the ones indicated by Constable and Turner. African American music, radical literature, and also " pot" or marijuana use were
such as pe tty larceny, burglary, pickpocketing, pimping, and gambling. diffused. Individuals on the lime acted a<.; middlemen in the cross-fertilization.
Competition and vio lence marked all these pursuits. Steel bands and carni- For example, with a sound system and the latest hit records from America, a
val bands, struggling for the limited fund s and small public recognition with limer could earn money by hosting parties where he charged for food and drinks.
which the nationalist governme nt rewarded "folk arts," and manned by com- The parties, subsequently called "blockoramas," were enormously popular as
peting limes with a history of animosity between them, clashed often , with venues for exhibiting the new styles and attitudes. The same organizers were also
stabbings, woundi ngs, bottle-throwing, and sometimes murde r. In illegal op- spokesmen for radical ideas, and made available for reading and discussion in
erations , pickpockets and shoplifters who "worked" the department stores their limes the works of Fanon and Cesaire , or of Cleaver, Carmichael, Malcolm
during rush hours cooperated wi th fellow limers against those of other neigh- X, and other metropolitan militants. In this manner, the parochialism of limes
borhoods to claim turf and informed on one another to the police. An endemic was further broken down: limers preferred to leave their own neighborhood and
illegal activity was gambl ing in its many forms (cards, dice, lotteries, cock- to join another lime, where there were better conversation, more music and
fighting, races, stickfi ghting), whic h attracted crowds of limers and workers books, cultural activities, and maybe an experiment in communal living. As in-
of a neighborhood . They redistributed money in vio lent, noisy confronta- dividuals matured as effective speaker/organizers, loyalties to them superseded
tional transactions . narrower ones; and loyalties to clear thought, good speech, and good organizing
Conflictive relations between unemployed young people with frustrated ed- challenged loyalties of kinship , restricted neighborliness , and shared personal bi-
ucational ambitions produced a social type much celebrated by newspapers of ographies commemorating hard times.
 22
1 23
Chapter 1 Re1•i1·ing the Gwrja Complex

By the late 1960s, speaker/organizers had grown sophisticated in their call- ence," quickly usurped leadership and policy-making roles. Without a con-
ing and could make articulate, erudite assessments of themselves, the limes, crete revolutionary program, however, they reiterated the limers' demands for
their transformations , and their future. The resulting ideology was Black an end to unemployment and racism. Their most significant move was to or-
Power, or a call for jobs, Afrocentric education, and strategies to alleviate ganize a march into the predominantly East Indian countryside to demon-
poverty and to rid the country of continuing racism and European control of strate solidarity with East Indian workers and unemployed persons . who re-
key resources. ceived them warmly.
Particular limes, having good speakers and organizers who were by now In April, after two months of unrest and marches, 6,000 daily paid workers
recruiting islandwide for revolutionary groups such as the National Joint Ac- at Brechin Castle sugar fac tory protested against the Industrial Court, Prime
tion Committee and the National Union of Freedom Fighters, were the scenes Minister Williams's earliest weapon against labor.2 When plans for a general
of extraordinary excitement from 1968 to 1970. On Prince Alfred Street, for strike were announced. the government declared a state of emergency and or-
example, the lime included two nationally known leaders flanked by very dered the arrest of Black Power leaders. Fires. alarms. and skirmishes with
able and articulate local neighborhood luminaries, including two exception- the police followed in downtown Port-of-Spain, and a curfew from dusk un-
ally gifted high school students, a calypsonian (then at the start of an illus- til dawn was imposed.
trious career), and a painter and sculptor. They had turned an abandoned two- On April 21 , a faction of the 750-man Trinidad Defense Force muti nied and
storied house into a meeting place which remained open twenty-four hours a declared support for and solidarity with the timers. The m utineers also ques-
day. Limers and visitors frequented the place to circulate books, discuss them, tioned the displacement of the original speaker/organizers from leadership .
or write personal journals. The latter often contained, in addition to the details Several days passed before the y were forced to surrender by the loyal army
of daily stresses, stories of police harassment. models of utopias, elaborate and the police. It is possible that the rebe ls were disheartened by the simulta-
plans for the reform of colonial society, and coded accounts of experimenta- neous appearance of aU .S . na val task force offshore, as well as of two deter-
tion with marijuana. A few individuals from limes in the cities of Port-of- mined Venezuelan destroyers. Finally by May, the island had returned to nor-
Spain, San Fernando, and Point Fortin eventually formed bands of marijuana malcy.
cultivators in the hills which remained active until the last were murdered, as "Normalcy" in San Fernando has prevailed from 1970 to the present day
"guerrillas," in 1973. (2000). It has meant the uninterrupted growth of business and the consolida-
Marijuana, or pot, which had been recently introduced as an item of the tion of the wealthy or lucky in their privileged positions. San f ernandians
American counterculture, acquired a key symbolic importance in this context. have the highest per capita income in the Caribbean , and recent Central Sta-
Limers said that its use quieted a gathering, inducing conversation and re- tistical Office surveys indicate that they are the largest consumers of credit,
flection. Because its use defied the law. it legitimated other forms or symbols who buy more cars, stereos. and household appliances than other West Indi-
of rebellion. ans. Three new suburbs have been added to the city in the last decade to ac-
Finally, in 1970, the limes made their last effort as limes. Learning that the commodate the continuing settlement of younger African, Chinese, East In-
Trinidadian government had remained inactive while five Trinidadian stu- dian, and European professionals, businessmen, or management-level staff.
dents had been detained in Canada on the charge of destroying a computer Their expensive houses and neighborhoods are often designed and land-
center at Sir George William University while opposing the war in Vietnam, scaped by foreign consultants and boast all the modem conveniences one ex-
limers broke out in spontaneous demonstrations in the streets of Port-of-Spain pects to find in a prosperous town in Florida. for example. where many do
and San Fernando. In Port-of-Spain, they marched into a Roman Catholic eventually migrate in retirement.
cathedral to hold a meeting and had to be evicted by the police. In San Fer- Business places in the city have undergone constant renovation and mod-
nando, the windows of businesses on High Street were smashed. The follow- ernization and , in the inner-city areas, continue to press upon low-income
ing day, 100.000 persons demonstrated in Port-of-Spain, the largest gathering neighborhoods. The poor and unemployed, numbers swollen by internal rural-
of its kind ever to take place in the Caribbean. The police arrested many. urban migration and driven from the inner city by high rents or abusive and
University students and members of the country's political opposition neglectful landlords, have also contributed to the expansion of the city. Their
promptly joined the limers in the demonstrations and, bypassing the suburbs include the teeming working-class settlements of Pleasantville. Co-
speaker/organizers by virtue of their superior education and "political experi- coyea, and Marabella. In the midst of the modernization of the city, between
24 Chapter 1
Chapter 2
the smart highways linking it to Port-of-Spain , these neighborhoods have to
fight to maintain decent living standards against steeply rising prices, irregu-
lar supplies of water and electricity, housing shortages, and the lack of effec-
How the Ganja
tive welfare and health provisions. Complex Was Diffused
The Black Power revolt was the last effort of the limes. From their earliest
functions in the thrivi ng informal economy to their attempted revolution, they
had served as an effective curriculum of learning in business and competitive
skills and eventually, in the philosophies of togetherness , cooperation , and re-
construction. At the same time , the realization of these goals after 1970
seemed to lie beyond the immediate po litical interests , competitive individu-
alism, and parochial outlooks which remained inherent in the form.
In the early 1970s , therefore, ex-timers, caug ht in a paradox of social or-
ganizatio n, lighted on marijuana, the drug they had recently discovered. Un-
conscious, perhaps , like so many other human actors at critical points in his-
tory, of the magnitude of their deed. they resurrected the long-buried local
Indian tradition of the ganja complex , penetrating to its deeply ingrained , In this book, drugs are viewed primarily as a cultural good (for example, "the
5,000-year-old social, economic, religious. cultural, and political behavioral ganja complex" rather than "ganja'' or " marijuana") which , in order to have
patterns. Adapting it by " Africanizing" it, they created a powerful tool for ex- perceptible effects on humans, must be integrated into a broader cultural pat-
tending their revolutionary sentiments while providing at the same time for tern incorporating much more than only the use of the pharmacological sub-
their material survival. stance. Marijuana was a kind of coin which picked up the energies, positive
or negative, of the informal econo my (see preface and chapter 8), or of there-
organization taking place in such groupings as the lime, and it circulated these
NOTES energies so as to strengthen and augment them and extend their sphere by mo-
bilizing new adherents.'
I. Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams died in 1981 and was succeeded in the office by Thus marij uana. the "herb" or "kaya," the valuable substance which was in
members of his own party, the PNM. George Chambers served from 19g1 to 1986, A. N. R. such demand in Trinidad in the 1970s and continues to be a staple among con-
Robinson from 19g6 to 1991 and Dr. Patric k Manning from 1991 to 1996. In that ye<tr, a temporary drug users, was certainly not the same as the marijuana which had
coalition of opposition parties defeated the PNM and formed a government headed by the grown unnoticed for at least fifty years; and the ancient ganja complex itself,
first Indian prime minister, Mr. Basdeo Panday.
which had been brought to Trinidadian shores by Indians fifty years before
2. The Industrial Court was appointed in 1979. Its major decisions undermined the
many gains labor had made in pre vious decades, especia lly the right to strike.
that, was reinterpreted to respond to more topical. present-day concerns. It
represented both cultural survival and cultural innovation. Thus what
Trinidadians paid for in the period of this research was a cultural good, a kind
of contemporary entertainment, a real -life drama, which allegedly conferred
educative and therapeuti c benefits upon those who enjoyed it. This chapter
shows how this unique cultural product was fabricated.
In the early 1960s, the young, unemployed, urban Trinidadian African male
limers , influenced by pot (marijuana) use abroad among metropolitan mili-
tants and countercultural artistes , were curious to experiment with it them-
selves. At first, unaware that the plant was tropical and could be grown copi-
ously on islands like Trinidad (where in fact a few elderly Indians were
cultivating it) , and thus before local cultivation and marketing could be or-
ganized , they relied on imported supplies. Use was contained very exactly
25
J
26 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Was Dijjim:d 27

within this particular population for the greater part of the decade , first in served as another conduit for the exchange of contacts among non-Europeans,
Port-of-Spain and then in San Fernando, before spreading to young, unem- and between non-Europeans and marijuana-using Europeans involved in liberal
ployed African males elsewhere on the island. The practice was diffused to causes, or the civil rights and antiwar movements.
other populations, such as employed or wealthier Africans, Europeans, Indi- An informant on Prince Alfred Street . the neighborhood described in chap-
ans, and Chinese only after all the ''eligible" African youths had been initi- ter I , was a student in England in the mid-1960s and reports that he had been
ated . Only when that stage was completed was the practice exported to To- radicalized there by racial and class issues and by the contacts he had formed
bago and other nearby Caribbean islands. with other militants, European and non-European , through using marijuana.
At least two features of the contemporary ganja complex put a definitive He used his brokerage between these groups to supply marijuana - or
stamp upon it: first. the arri val from abroad, or the " foreign" origin. of mari- hashish - from Jamaican distributors to the others. When he returned to
juana, the raw pharmacological stuff, and second, its primary adoption by the Trinidad, he smuggled in a few ounces of hashish for his own use, and to
particular population of young , urban. unemployed African males. These twin "tum on" some of his boyhood friends.
features determined the early organization of the traffic and the pace at which Radical political beliefs figured largely in this case . However, while there
marijuana became endem ic in the low-income population as a whole, and its were many Trinidadians like the informant, the diffusion was not accom-
subsequent spread to other populations. They also dictated the pace of local plished through their agencies only. A climate of unrest existing throughout
culti vation. the world syste m in the 1960s - from students, antiwar activists, Black Pan-
With respect to the first feature , more than H,OOO Trinidadi ans emigrate thers, and civil rights marchers in metropolitan centers to nationalist struggles
legally every year. Since the 1960s, the destination of the larger number had abroad , the expansion of U .S. business, and the disintegrating limes in pe-
been the United States . Poorer migrants headed for Brooklyn in New York ripheral Trinidad -was the structural condition which many populations
City or the U.S. Virgin Islands , while wealthy businessmen searched for adopting marijuana use faced in common. Other diffusions from abroad
homes in Florida. Many settled abroad permanently and established cross- which also proved acceptable inc luded African hair designs, the ideology and
generational links between a household in the metropolitan center and several rhetoric of Black Power, and radical or counterculturallifestyles .
households in a local island community. Some traveled seasonally, such as In addition , music was itself a very important borrowing, and a conduit for
agricultural laborers and nonskilled workers, or wealthy Trinidadians who va- communicating positive attitudes about marijuana. The Beatles, other European
cation abroad frequently to steep themselves in metropolitan life. Many American rock music groups of the early 1960s, and African American musi-
Trinidadian businessmen and professionals also need to visit abroad periodi- cians endorsed drug use and countercultural ideas and sang about them. Their
cally for work-related reasons. Finally, students attend a variety of educa- music was int1uential among young Caribbean Africans, and Jamaican musi-
tional institutions in foreign countries. cians started blending it with local traditions in a continuing syncretism which
Tn Trinidad , there are few areas completely isolated from the flow of per- would result in the 1970s in reggae, a music explicitly inspired by and centered
sam; and communication. Migrants leave from all parts of the island , while around marijuana. Reggae then advertised marijuana use around the world and
within the island there is a sizable internal migration. One is often surprised remains a potent musical form and source of countercultural ideology in the new
to find visitors- tourists and students of many nationalities and ethnicities - millennium.
in the smallest or remotest village . Brought from abroad in these circumstances, marijuana was prepared for
Abroad, West Indians find themselves in circumstances unlike those in the use and consumed in quite specific ways. Since cigarette papers were as yet
Caribbean. Persons from different islands are brought together to share sepa- unavailable, it was chopped up very finely and stuffed into an emptied-out cig-
rate , non-European neighborhoods and an impoverished metropolitan life . The arette, to make a "cigarette joint." Another detail was that the "cigarette joints"
exclusivity between islanders, fostered for centuries by the separate political were then smoked communally among the timers described in chapter I .
ties which each island maintained with the colonia l power, is removed . West In- The second , more definitive feature of the contemporary ganja complex
dians also fraternize with non-Europeans from elsewhere, such as Africans and was the identity of marijuana users with young Caribbean Africans, who soon
Asians in Europe, and African Americans and Latinos in America. They assume proclaimed that marijuana originated in Africa. The ganja complex, packed
a politically conscious non-European identity where it may not have been for- with 5,000 years of promoting material and spiritual self-sufficiency and
merly a matter of concern on the islands. Marijuana in metropolitan centers peace, adapted itself well to the conditions of young Trinidadian Africans

J
28 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Was Diffused 29

which were set forth in chapter 1. They needed urgently to discontinue the exclusivity: use outside of these social parameters was punished, sometimes
petty criminality and violent feuding! by mental disturbance.
For example, the informant from Prince Alfred Street reported that he had
introduced hashish to two middle-class initiates and to an unemployed limer
THE LONG INCUBATION PERIOD in the summer of 1967 . Only one middle-class recipient felt that he had been
affected at all by the substance but was unimpressed, while the other stopped
In each locale where it eventually became commonplace, marijuana use had his experimentation after the first couple of profitless attempts. The unem-
a typical incubation period. This conclusion was drawn by combining direct ployed timer, however, has continued smoking heavily every day since then
observations (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) of several different stages of it in to today (2000). During a later return trip, the informant discovered that the
cities, towns, and villages in Trinidad and in a number of Brooklyn and New practice had become entrenched among all the other limers on Prince Alfred
York City neighborhoods, and from reconstructions of the period from ac- Street. All of them were young African males, with the exception of yo ung
counts of Caribbean persons from every part of the Caribbean diaspora. Jndians 2 or persons of mixed ancestry who identified themselves as African .
There were several constant characteristics of the incubation process: Newspaper accounts and police statistics left the same impression . In the
The first was the length of its duration. The period of incubation was at early 1970s, when marijuana offenses were published in the island's newspa-
least five years long and it worked more or less to segregate initiates totally pers for the fi rst time since the early 1900s , the reports came from Port-of-
from the general population. Typical settings for use on the islands were fam- Spain and the urbanized northeast corridor, and from San Fernando and its sub-
ily homes which had been deserted by adult family members migrating urbs. The occupations of offenders included: unemployed, laborer, sailor,
abroad, while New York offered the abandoned apartment buildings of fisherman, gardener. A large category was labeled bandits, who had been
Harlem and the Bronx and, in Brooklyn, the commercial lofts of East New caught allegedly in possession of both marijuana and arms . Where names can
York, Brownsville, Crown Heights, and Flatbush. In Trinidad, for example, be trusted to give a clue to racial identification, mostly Africans were involved .
use was initiated in some neighborhoods of the two large cities, San Fernando Offenders fell in the age category of th irteen to thirty-five. Schools in which a
and Port-of-Spain, around 1963 to 1965. It remained the secret of the earliest " drug" problem had been uncovered were not the island's elite schools, but
experimenters in their rundown redoubts and did not establish itself in simi- those where rejected pupils-often the children of poor but ambitious parents
lar neighborhoods of the same two cities until 1968 to 1970. Meanwhile, in who had not passed the qualifying examinations at the end of primary school-
rural Trinidad, in hamlets at the center of villages which bore a resemblance were being coached for examinations at the intermediate and senior levels .
to the affected neighborhoods in the cities (i.e., unemployed African youths Fieldwork conducted in 1975 in Raw Deal, a village of 100 households and
imitating urban lifestyles lived there), no one would have heard of marijuana 535 persons about eight miles from San Fernando, confirmed marijuana's par-
until 1970, when a few venturesome individuals would have tried it for the tiality for young African males . This example of a village in which marijuana
first time. Use would remain their secret, shared only with their closest com- use was only one year old also indicated how long marijuana had remained
panions, unti11975.In more remote areas, where planters and their sons ac- confined to the cities before being diffused elsewhere. Observations in the vil-
tually grew marijuana and cared for marijuana plants from seed to maturity, lage recalled reconstructions of the situation in the mid-1960s in San Fernando .
no one actually used the drug until as late as 1976 to 1978. An exhausti ve household survey was completed in Raw Deal , which was se-
Thus, all told, more than ten years from onset elapsed before marijuana use lected because it was 50 percent Indian and 50 percent Atiican. In 1975 , Africans
was introduced to the larger Trinidadian population. were the only users and dealers , despite the equal ethnic distribution of the vil-
Second, during the incubation period, initiates were always young (eight- lage population. At first, only two Afiican males older than thirty years of age
een to twenty-four), urban African males just awakening to the suspicion that were users, and only one African woman, aged twenty-three, had tried the sub-
they would be unemployed, underemployed, or unemployable for the better stance . Ownership of property and achievement of educational or occupational
part of their lives. Attention had been drawn to this feature above. advantage in a family were found to be factors which sharply divided nonusers
The responsiveness or even aptness of marijuana for young, urban, unem- from users.
ployed African males was remarkable. In the early 1960s, use seemed to have Marijuana use was adopted in Raw Deal's population of young, unemployed
been contained within the communal gatherings of the limes with an exacting African males thoroughly. Everyone who was young, male, unemployed ,
30 Chapter 2 How the (ianja Complex WlH Diffused 31

African, nonpropertied. and lacking educationaVoccupational opportunities was Raw Deale rs, on account of his strong disapprova l of liming, gam bling,
a user-all except one person, who was discouraged by the others because he marijuana, and their other pastimes. His three sisters and himself were
grew clumsy, noisy, and agitated when he smoked marijuana. Moreover, he had you ng pillars of the Baptist Church , and they were the life of all its spor~s
a history of epileptic fil<>. and social activities. He had divided the house into two apartments by h1s
Marijuana smoking in 1975 in this village was still a communal. rather than own labor and expense. reserving the ground-fl oor apartment for hi mse lf,
an individual, acti vity. lt was confined in the affected population with a kind of and worked at home ("in the yard") to con solidate a thriving business as an
ritual restriction . For example , when the boundary of "young, African . unem- independent welding contractor.
ployed male'' was violated, the sole offender became mentally ill . The prohibi- The you nger son was raised to foll ow and exceed his brother's example. To
tion might explai n why use had been confined for so many years to only a few avo id any contact with other you ng Africans in the village, he was made to
neighborhoods in San Fernando and Port-of-Spain before venturing beyond. play cricket , footbalL and table tennis with a club in another village ~ami­
The African vill agers in Raw Deal are the descendants of a company of nated by Indians . He attended social gatherings at an Anglican Church m yet
American Baptists who were rewarded with land in Trinidad fo r service to the another neighboring village. He had been apprenticed to a welder in San Fer-
British Crown in West Africa. They arrived in the 1900s. In termarriage be- nando and the n secured a maintenance job at the San Fernando General Hos-
tween the fam il y lines continuing down to the present day, when first-cousin pital, through an uncle 's influence. He took night classes in drafting at the Sa?
marriages are still common , has produced a village composed of hamlets. Fernando Technical School, and also correspondence courses from a techm-
Each hamlet contains a cluster of homes belongi ng to a kindred, and the ham- cal college in the United States .
lets are further connected to one another by a consanguineous or affinal tic. But the you ng man had an Achilles' heel. He was passionately fond of the
Because all the original American settlers were landowners, every parcel of latest style of African American popular music, funk music, which Trinida-
village lands carried a family name. Over the years, however. these properties dian marijuana users had made their own. From time to time, therefore, he
had been alienated. Chinese and Indian landowners had purchased some, while lingered near the j uke box in the major store at the main village junc~ion,
a few villagers had prospered at the expense of the rest and had bought them out. which was also the favorite haunt of Raw Deal 's marij uana users. One mght,
Thus, African Raw Dealers were relatives divided by land ownership . two of the m, boyhood companions and consanguines, drew him into conver-
The consequences of a father 's drunkenness, or lack of business acumen, sation and gave him a cigarette, which he later supposed to have been a mar-
were being keenly felt by dispossessed Raw Dealers in 1975. Property values ijuana "cigarette joint." He believed that it was the first time he had tr ied
had risen, and land ownership correlated strongly with advanced educational smoking the drug, but he could not be sure. But there was another first in store
and occupational standing. Most propertied persons in Raw Deal could afford for him the following night: he slept with a woman - a sex worker - for the
their own homes and usually had jobs in industry or public service in San Fer- first time. He had found her in S an Fernando.
nando or elsewhere. Some had extensive agricultural holdings, and had con- A week later, he supposed he smoked again, as before in the course of a
tracts or grants from the sugar companies and the government to produce sug- conversation with village limers while listening to music at the jukebox.
arcane, fresh pork and poultry, vegetables, and fruit. Their sons and daughters Three days later, after having behaved oddly, and fee ling high (he said) either
were reared to function productively on the land, in the home, and in jobs. and on account of the marij uana or the "runnings" in his penis (for he also said
doing we ll in school was an important filial obligation. For Raw Dealers , that he had contracted a venereal disease from the sexual encounter), he de-
therefore , land ownership had moral and symbolic dimensions. stroyed all his college notebooks and correspondence course texts, and
The Worthy fa mil y once had extensive agric ultural holdings. What had slammed his new transistor radio into the wall of his bedroom. Then he broke
remained of them - a five-acre parcel of agricultural land and two lots in the through a window into the Baptist C hurch , where he stationed himself at the
residential part of the village, where the fam il y lived in an attractive altar, shouting profanities. Later, kicking and screaming, he had to be taken
house - had fa lle n into the hands of one particular branch of the famil y. The by his mother and older brother to the San Fernando General Hospital , where,
inheritor, a Mrs. Worthy, was thought by vi ll agers to have used obeah on admitting that he had used marijuana, he was treated for mental distur-
(witchcraft) to acquire the property. Her daily displays of acquisitiveness, bances resulting from what the doctors called a "cannabis syndrome ." 3 In a
and those of her immediate family, added to the unsavory reputation. The few days, he was transferred to the mental hospital in Port-of-Spain and was
older of her two sons was especially derided by young, unemployed African kept for six months on a regime of tranquilizers and other psychotropic drugs.
 32 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Wcu Diffused 33

He was released in 1976. A vacant-eyed young man , he used to wander ways lived on the mai n trunk road and were likely to have nonagricultural
through the village in dread that his curre nt " normalcy"-jobless, dependent employment, such as in the civil service or in technical crafts. Their sons mo-
on his medications. docilely obedient to his older brother- would be eroded nopolized the modem, public areas such as the grocery store, bar/restaurants,
by a single further (putati ve) puff of marijuana. and c inemas . and dressed more fashionably than other "country" boys. They
The story of young Worthy showed to what susceptibilities a middle-class dreamed of the city and visited as often as they could afford the expense.
male may have been prone if he had used- or even imagined he had used- The boundary drawn around "males" was also hard and fast, and only a few
marijuana outside of the strict social parameters in the incubation period of females had ex perimented with the drug in 1976.
its introduction to Trinidadian communities. In 1980, when there was a more And finally. initiates always emerged from the protracted (more than five
varied and more numerous using population which did accept persons like years) incubation period as dramaticall y changed persons and (many) as fledg-
Worthy, "being African" and "being dispossessed'' still ensured that such a ling marijuana distributors. This outcome reflected the passions and associa-
user would be welcomed and e mbraced warmly and supportively in mari- tional rearrangements described in chapter I, which clandestinely occupied the
juana smoking. An affinity or resonance between the drug and that identity lime during those several years in seclusion. At the beginning of the incuba-
persisted . tion period , initiates may have been drawn from a single ne ighborhood; but be-
Marijuana's partiality for young, unemployed Africans was all the more re- cause the informal economy and the lime had been destroyed, they would have
markable in the remote Indian villages close to the rain forests of South been fiercely individualistic and violently competitive over the few hustles
Trinidad, where villagers and their young sons actually grew marijuana in which provided income. As they became more experienced in both marij uana
1975. As marijuana use increased nationall y. middle-aged Indian subsistence use and seclusion, however, these groups of ex perime nters in abandoned
farmers in these villages had been drawn into brief but lucrati ve stints of cul- bui ldings accepted members who were not from the neighborhood . New ide-
tivating marijuana. But the only experimental marij uana smokers were the ologies of ''brotherhood" and "togetherness" were fo rmulated as these ex-
younger sons of the very few African families resident in such " Indian" vil- panded groups of experimental marijuana smokers acquired political and cul-
lages. The middle-aged Indian growers, non-users who preferred alcohol, tural f unctions. In 1970 , they surprised Trinidad when they surfaced as a
were very apprehensive that their sons' association with their African age- political force. The details of these events were provided in chapter I.
mates would seduce them into experimenting with marijuana. The fear was
realized rather quickly afterward at this late date in the Caribbean marijuana
phenomenon. EARLY ORGANIZATION OF THE TRAFFIC
The diacritic " unemployed , underemployed, or unemployable" was also
strikingly maintained in the incubation period, as in the case of Raw Deal. Throughout the period in which use was restricted to young, urban, unem-
Not a single young African wage-earner smoked marijuana . The diacritic ployed African males in San Fern ando, the marijuana traffic reflected the pe-
·'young" was also exacting. Initiates were typically dependent upon their fam- culiar social characteri stics of that population. Limers , preoccupied with the
ilies or were persons being sponsored as dependents eligible for immigration legal and illegal pursuits with which they maintained themselves . were all
by their relatives abroad. Indeed, the same young males often showed up at equally responsible for procuri ng supplies of the drug. A supply was more or
different incubation settings on the islands and in immigrant communities less equally divided among the timers. The supplier gained a quantity for per-
abroad as they followed a unique migratory itinerary up the Caribbean archi- sonal consumption and perhaps a few dollars in profi t.
pelago and across North America or Europe . For their sojourn s in Brooklyn , This arrangement was mentioned by persons interviewed in every San Fer-
for example, these young males retreated from such haunts of petty criminal- nando neighborhood , when they were describing the period up to 1970 . Later in
ity as Fulton Street to set up "communes" in abandoned apartment buildings the research , informants from such far-flung English-speaking Caribbean com-
where they experimented with marijuana use. In seclusion they also found munities as Belize and Panama confirmed that it had obtained in their home
respite from their immigrant kinsfolk 's disapproval of unemployment , drugs, communities too. Marijuana was around. lt was smoked communally for the
and liming. most part, obviating the necessity of individual purchases fo r private, individual
Although it may at first appear contradictory, the signifier ' 'urban" applied consumption . The trade depended on imported substances, smuggled in irregu-
very well to initiates in rural areas. In the countryside, African families al- larly by seamen or travelers. Their prices were idiosyncratic. Relationships
34 Chapter 2 Ho w the Ganja Compl!!,x Was Dijjusl'd 35

between city de mand and the growing country supply were marked by distrust, 1976. when former timers had succeeded in establishing permanent mari -
robbery, and violence whenever the urban and rural principals in the exchange juana-se lling operations (see chapter 3). By 1977, an estimated 17,000 San
came into direct contact. A yeoman service was accordingly performed by the Fernandians were users of marijuana. The estimate of 17,000 users in San
"country" African or Indian schoolboy, the traveling salesman , and taxi drivers, Fernando is deri ved from the attendance at a Peter Tosh concert in Skinners
who acted intermittently as couriers or entrepreneurs in the traffic. Park , organized by a leading San Fernandian Rastafari block leader. At least
Two large drugstores in the city, run by prosperous middle-class owners, sup- 17.000 conce rtgocrs had turned out to hear Peter Tosh, a leading Jamaican
plied MX and LSD, which were also used in this early period of experimenta- reggae musician and Rastafari. sing " Legalize It" and to see him blow
tion. Later, when demand for those psychoactives was complete ly eclipsed by smoke fro m a huge spliff (a Jamaican-style c igar-sized marijuana joint,
marijuana, these dmgstores remained connected to the traffic through sales of wrapped in ''fronto ," or raw tobacco leaf) in the faces of policemen. The au-
cigarette papers (to make joints) and other paraphernalia for smo king m arijuana. dience would have included unemployed users and dealers, as well as their
In Raw Deal. the same arrangement could be directly observed in 1976. yo unger working-class clientele, from San Fernando and surrounding vil-
Here, a year after its introduction, all smoking remained communal in the lages. If some non- San Fernandians are included in this count, most middle-
group of yo ung. unemplo yed African male smokers, in an abandoned build- class users would have been excluded . Older persons than would have at-
ing not far from the village center. Although $ 1 was charged for each joint, tended the concert had also become users. M ost employed persons in
the dealer o ne day became the consumer the next. A young man would as- low-income neighborhoods- manual or poorly paid but skilled laborers,
sume the role o f dealer as cash became available to him . or sometimes as a lo we r-echelon white collar workers , and civil servants - had become regu-
result of sheer good luck, and the small profits earned were used to buy a pair lar users . In addition to the total penetration of the low-income milieu , mar-
of sneakers, or clothes, or to make some contribution to the ho usehold , or for ijuana use also appeared among the middle c lasses, both African and East
gambling , rather than being reinvested in the traffic. Indian. In San Fernando, the number of users also included a quite distinct
In Raw Deal , however, indications of the changes which had already occurred quanti ty of Europeans, either from Trinidadi an families or abroad , some of
in San Fernando were also apparent. Demand was rising, and by the end of the who m had deri ved the custom from living in North America or Europe
summer of 1977, four young men had differentiated themselves as suppliers of rather than in Trinidad.
regular, daily quantities of marijuana of fairly uniform good quality. When are- Several reasons may be advanced for the growth of use . The chief of these,
turn visit was paid to the village in 1978, there were even mo re users, wholesale the establishment of regular selling operatio ns, has already been noted and
prices had climbed upward , and only two of the four young men had specialized wi ll be discussed at length in chapter 3. As limers became regular dealers , es-
as the village's regular dealers . Remaining members of the earlier smoking peciall y after 1974, marijuana was readily available in the city. Their simul-
group , or lime, were not involved in dealing and onl y consumed marijuana. taneous conversio n to Rastafari, outlined in chapter 4 , requiring them to wear
Communal smoking by the lime had disappeared and was replaced by individ- the hig hly visible dreadlocks and furnishing a religio us justification for the
ual consumption by the purchaser (and his selected personal friends). culti vatio n, distribution. and use of marijuana , satisfied many segments of the
When regular dealers had e merged a fe w years earlier in San Fernando, the populatio n abo ut the be ne fic ial effects of the substance. Opposing the con-
consequences for the traffic were dramatic. The development stimulated de- sumption of alcohol, meat, and other ''no nnatural" foods as Rastafari , they
mand for marijuana further and encouraged the growth of use throughout the forced Trinidadians to be aware about health, diet. and religion , and intro-
low-income population generally and in the middle classes. And second, it duced skepticism toward the accepted wisdoms in these fields.
spurred local cultivatio n. Moreover. the continued use of marijuana by timers, and its self-righteous
T hese two consequences are discussed below. use by the R astafari among them , lessened the threat of illegality. Fear of the
"fantasy lands" to which marijuana was said to transport its victims was also
decreased as users reported the tonic effects they had fe lt , and as the drug ac-
GROWTH IN DEMAND quired a folk-medicinal reputatio n in the relief of stress, asthma, fever, and
bowel diff iculties. The Rastafari enthusiasm for the substance and its adop-
Marijuana use spread beyond the social parameters which had contained it ti on by increasing numbers in the low-income milieu becam e mutually self-
throug ho ut the late 1960s and early 1970s, and especially after 1974 to supporting, each allowing the other to thrive.
36 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Cumplex Was Diffused 37

At the same ti me, protest, whic h had been the original medium for the dif- disiacs they were manufacturing. Today, while continuing to use marijuana.
fusion of the practice , had been generalized . In Raw Deal, for example, they have nullified these former alliances.
young informants had been more heavily circumscribed by the institutions of The case of David F. caused a scandal which was exhaustively reported in
land and famil y, both controlled by conservati ve elders. than they were in the nation's newspapers and weekly news magazines. In December 1976 , the
San Fernando , where these institutions had already been weakened for many seventeen-year-old Trinidadian European youth, son of the managing direc-
over the past few generations. The adoption of marijuana use had coincided tor of Trinidad 's oldest extant company, burned down the house of a wealthy
very nicely with the collapse of these institutions in Raw Deal in 1976. The contractor in their affluent neighborhood. The young man and his friends had
young men began to smoke marijuana at a time when court disputes over been using the house for smoking marij uana while its owner was on an ex-
land were being waged by the several branches of families, thus highlight- tended visit in Europe. The fire was deliberately started . The young man and
ing the importance of land simultaneously with the dispossession of those two companions, also Trinidadian European youths, were arrested, released
without it ; and when the burden of unemployed sons was creating daily. on bail, then recalled into custody when the police learned that a British pass-
evening-time quarreling in the village. Similarly, in middle-class groups, pott had been obtained for him , and that a flight to England was planned.
other sorts of dissatisfactions with life sanctioned illegal , nonconventional Botts, a dealer in Port-of-Spain who claimed that David F. had bought mari-
behaviors. juana from him, remarked:
In San Fernando, early middle-class use closely resembled the ganja com-
Some r~f dese white boys does hear de talk 011 de block, and den dey does gu hume
plex which had been established among unemployed African you ths. The
and feel dey drearier dan dread {more Rastafari than the Ra.n ajari tlu~mselw's/. And
case of the informant from Prince Alfred Street may be recalled. The young dey didn 'r use to be/iel'e it, hut now dev gu team dar the police is for real.
man was pleased , on his return from abroad , to discover that his radical
philosophical and political views were shared by age-mates from whom he The growth of the marij uana phenomenon by 1978 had completely tran-
had grown apart in following his educational career. Hi s use of marijuana scended all the boundaries in which it had been contained earlier. This un-
was supported by theirs and did not cease on his return , as in the case of bounded growth accounted for the appearance of quite distinct complexes of
other middle-class persons who had experimented with the substance use, to each of which attached a unique body of effects. These distinctions
abroad. figured even in the operation of the trade (see chapter 7).
A young middle-class Indian in another neighborhood made it his late- Thus, in San Fernando at the time of writing in 1978, marijuana smoking
afternoon ritual to share a couple of joints with the local distributor before go- remained imitative of metropolitan fashions among categories of users other
ing in to dinner. The son of a deceased magistrate and landowner, the young than the initial using population. lt featured in polydrug use, which included
man began liming with the young African dealer in earl y childhood, and the alcohol, cocaine, and LSD. Marijuana , in these circles, enhanced a party: it
relationship wanned through a series of transactions of mutual be nefit to heightened an appreciation of leisure-time activities, stimulated the various
both. The young landlord has found the services of the dealer, an ex pert bur- appetites, and sometimes produced drowsiness (see chapters 7 and R).
glar, invaluable in maintaini ng control over his properties and his tenants . For unemployed Africans, firmly anchored in the ganja complex , mari-
Reciprocally, the dealer has received help from his friend to escape an early juana was reported to "bring togetherness" and to "keep us cool." Then, after
conviction for armed robbery and to set up a mechanic 's shop . When he was I 970 , and especially while regular selling operations were being established,
arrested for marijuana distribution while fieldwork for this research was pro- "it made us think constructi ve." Finally, as use crossed class and other bound-
ceeding , his friend paid the bail . aries, the distincti veness of the unemployed Africans' complex of use deep-
In the case of three brothers, proprietors of a large business, marijuana ened into Rastafari , which ritualized use and prohibited the consumption of
helped solidify a link with Black Power during 1969 and I 970 , when they had all other intoxicants. The assumption of dreadlocks , Rastafari speech con-
brief, youthful poli tical ambitions. They smoked marijuana on the various ventions, and a meatless, saltless diet d istinguished persons whom marijuana
limes with whic h they were acquainted and opened a reading room , club, and now caused "to see the light." The arrival at these distinctive religious rituals
bar to provide a meeting place for Black Power discussions-participants would then complete the successful diffusion of the 5 ,000-year-old Asian
would often bring marijuana with them. The brothers also used the Black ganj a complex to an African population in the Americas near the start of the
Power chic to capture a market for the line of "black" cosmetics and aphro- twenty-first century.
38 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Wa.1· Diffused 39

GROWING MARIJUANA FOR ijuana growers , who complained mildly about the lack of excitement in such a
DEMAND SINCE 1960 TO THE PRESENT DAY small village, but who had no desire to visit out: a group of them clai med that
they had not visited San Fernando, the nearest large c ity, for nearly e ight months.
When the city-generated demand for marijuana had affected local culti vation by There were a number of versions of how the idea of marijuana growing was
stimulating Indian peasants to plant it, all the conditio ns for the flowering of the introduced to the villagers. One major grower said that a rel ative, on a home visit
marijuana economic system , for the tim1 foundation of its institutions. and for from Canada. had suggested to him that busi ness opportunities in marijuana
the unbounded expansion of demand were finally met. The ganja complex had were coming. In 1960 , with seeds which an uncle had obtained in Port-of-Spain ,
thus acquired the wherew ithal for survi val and continuous self-perpetuation . he and another villager went into joint production . Another grower claimed that
Indian marijuana cultivators were a ve ry dist inct sort of people. In joining it was the district medical officer, fresh from his medical studies abroad in the
them wi th unemployed city timers. the marijuana economic system had early 1960s, who had first put the idea of c ultivating marijuana to him . By 1970,
brought into association the two most marginalized populations in Trinidad. nearly everyone in the village was a marijuana cultivator: it had been o ne of the
It had integrated the extreme ends of rural and urban segments of the infor- earliest villages to begin. In 1976, only two households were not or had not been
mal economic sector (see preface and cha pter 8) . so engaged . One belonged to the village contractor, who had his hands full with
These marijuana growers were Ind ians who had tled the ~ugar plantations the constant renovation and modernizing of houses in the village. The other was
in the central Naparimas to settle close to the rain forests in the southeast of headed by a very nervous newcomer (the remote affinal relative of a villager)
the is land. They had suppo rted themselves in the infonnal economic sector by who devoted his whole interview to provi ng how highly he regarded the virtue
subs istence farming and animal husbandry and by hunting and gathering in of minding one's own business and how scrupu lously he practiced it.
the rain forests. Some families gath ered wood and road -building materials My ths of orig in notwi thstanding, cul tivation and use may have been sus-
and had found occasional employment in former times in the now-dere lict co- ta ined clandestinely in this area since the 1900s. A renegade Hindu priest . one
coa and coffee estates which French Creole4 emigres had owned. Nowadays of o nly two older Indian men discovered to be marij uana users in this re-
the on ly employment to be had in these districts is irregularly offered by the search, lived in a community nearby; and very old men , while d isclaiming
Special Works Program o r by the County Counc il. use, now or ever, cupped their hands to smoke tobacco cigarettes as though
Thus Indians who grew marijuana were clearly disting uished from the ma- they were holding a chilum, a clay pipe used for marijuana sm oking in Ind ia.
jority of East Ind ians who remained behind on the plantations, eventually to At the same time, the curious fact that on ly recently had use become wide-
become large lando wners or landless laborers. The organi zation of their vil- spread among the young sons of Indian growers has already been noted .
lages, the way fa m il ies distribute themselves spatially, their rel igio us obser- These growers had qu ite limited ambitions in the trade . They showed little
va nces, their relatio nships , and their uses of o ne another and of their re- incentive to remain long in business, being wary of both the police and their
sources and time-all uniquely identified them. The vi llagers in this part of city clients . Their intention was to make enough money to finance a legal en-
Trinidad are less in vol ved with the outside world than elsewhere: there is no terprise, such as a farm, a bar, or a poolhaiL and then to retire from all asso-
running water supply. no electricity, and no employment. One eats w hat one ciatio n with marijuana. T hu s, there was a rapid turnover of villages going in
grows or catches and uses w hat one makes. and o ut of culti vation . For example, the village where this researcher had
Firsthand data on marijuana cultivation were collected in a growing village of li ved in 1976 had been a major supplier since 1970. A roll call of San Fer-
ninety-eight households near the town of Rio Claro in the rain forests of south- nando distributors could be made as they drove into the village to make pu r-
eastern Trinidad. Apart fro m activities re lated to marijuana, a day is spent hear- chases. In I 977, however, a brief visit had been enough to ascertain that there
ing about disputes o ver domesti c animals and their errant grazing habits, tres- was no more cultivation and trafficking here. Families had settled down to
passing, learning how to trap birds, eating wild bananas and pineapples, their newfound prosperity and concerned themselves anxiously with good
watching Hindu priests at their devotions, and hearing their conch shells being schools for the ir you nger children and the provisio n of public services gener-
blown to summon worshippers to prayer. Night falls rapid ly, and then there is ally. Their erstw hile clients bypassed th is village and so ught out others .
nothing to do, except indoors. Marijuana revenues had recently brought two gen- This ki nd of grower demonstrated little in terest in innovative techniques for
erators which keep a bar/poolroom and a poolroom open until 10:00 P.M. In the producing marijuana. There were no well-tried procedures of cultivation and
village were several young men in their twenties, the sons of affluent Indian mar- processing aimed at de livering g reater potency, weight, color. and appearance
40 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex lVtu Difjitsed 41

or superior taste. Marijuana was planted at least twice a year, on plots the cul- populaTion of rultivators was about 50 people or so, right? After de years pass and
tivators had cleared in the rain forest. It was tended by camps of growers and people grew more conscious of ganja, .vou find de planters increased. Around 1970
their sons , who spent weeks in the forest attending to the daily chores of weed- in de same area. de numben· must have been anyv.·here berv.·een 300 and 500 peo-
ing . irrigating, and protecting the plants. The best crop was planted in June and ple. until the police cracked it up around 1972. Man, long ago when you went down
to Riche and you asked about ganja, (dTen people would ask back for seeds: man, we
July and was harvested in December. Another crop was sometimes planted in
always hl!ar about dis ling: Get l'<~<~ ds. YIJU know. Seeds would be somerhin,:: strange
Decemher and harvested in July, but the marijuana was said to be unhappy lo the planter. So dar means dm in dose days, 1he population <~f'ganja cultivators was
with the rains which begin falling in July. Often the marijuana was harvested small, vet:v lma/1. But bv 1973, el'erybody was aware.
prematurely, for fear of theft or police detection; but sometimes, when it was I wo11ld say dey had over 2.000 planters in all. Say in 1972 in Riche. our (~fa ro-
brought to maturity. it rivaled the best available anywhere. ta/ population (~f close ro 5,000 people. De.v would hm•e ad11lts and young people. De
The size of plantations rarely exceeded 2,000 roots: this production level adults mav be Kardener.1· or woodcutlers or doing some l'>'l tk I had remporury em-
was achieved in the early 1970s and had not been exceeded. Although the po- plo.vmenr]. But de young people who comin· up f rom school, dey come up in a poor
lice and media had popularized the idea of El Dorados 5 of marijuana in the area, after school dey culting cocoa ./(Jr people and dat sort (~f' shir, you .find dey
started plantin ' marijuana. So I would say dar from 1972 when only adults were
forests, if these claims- "police raid destroys $50M worth of marijuana";
plant in ' to 1974 when de youths started to plant too, tlw population of the whole
"raid destroys 120,000 trees"- were true, the clearings would have been as plare was involved.
conspicuous as sugarcane plantations. Both geographical limitations and the I thouKht that 0.1· a young man I was ambitious, I was l'ery .fortunate. But I didn 't
moti ves of growers suggested a more modest size. know dat there were more forwnale brothers dan me livin ·in Biche area. So when I
Finally, these growers have been indifferent to the challenges of marketing. went dong dere and .ww a 101 (if' big houus and a lot of' cars and.fl.mcy ting'i, I wanted
In the early days of cultivation , they often sold quantities as little as an ounce. to know who owned all these lings. A nd then /found out it was youths like myse(fwho
Since the 1970s, however, planters refused to sell Jess than a pound at a time. owned all dese lings. Same KIIYS who c111lassin' and pickin' cocoa ,/i1r people, get! in '
a dollar here and dere: some of dem reach cio>e to haifa million dollars.
Buyers were expected to do all the traveling, the (sometimes perilous) trans-
Of course. de size of a marijuana plantation varies. For example, it varies with de
fer of the purchase from the countryside to town, and all further marketing. environment de plamer is in. /was de fir.n planter in Diablo. I planted one task of
For example, all exports of marijuana from the island in 1978 (to the United land. Dar is about 4 lots of land. And every lot ha~· abo!ll 1,000 trees. So I planted
Kingdom , North America , and other Caribbean islands) were organized in the about 4.000 trees. But I would !WI he so precise in sayin ' 4.000 trees, hecause you
city by the city distributors, and growers took no part in them. have to make allowances .for los~·e.1'. So for de 2 acre o(land I gettin' less dan 4,000
An exceptional character in this context was a young Indian named Darius. trees. A)?ainlike in life, in mar!juana dey have a male and female; and de male is im -
Born in a country district. he grew up in limes in Port-of-Spain, where he had potent, it does nm contribute anylhinK to a man 's head ["high"}. So oul of your
4,000 rrees, you have to weed out males. So I got about 3,000 trees really. vie/din'
been sent to live with a relative. While attending a technical college there, he
about 450 pounds of marijuana.
learned to use and distribute marijuana . In 1974 , he returned to his birthplace You know there is a way of calculalin ' dis ring One marijuana tree could give you
to culti vate marijuana himself , but then di scovered that it was more lucrati ve a poun ·of ganja; likewise, one tree could fiive you two pou/l ·s too. Dis i.f my per-
to purchase marijuana from other planters and to function as a middleman be- sonal experience. But I like to break it dong to de minimum-(Jne tree gil• in' a quar-
tween them and the city purchasers. Until the advent of Rastafari, however, ler-poun ·. So I00 trees give you 25 poun 's approximately. But den trees are so dif·
he was the only planter to have read books on marijuana and to have had ideas ferenl in m.v experience. Raisin· a field (?! manjuana trees is like rai.1·in' I 2 children
about improving cultivation. Usi ng the skills he had learned in draftsmanship in a family. All de children doesn't come oil/ de same way. All doesn 't be hriglll or
whatever. Same way with mar!juana.
at technical college , he built proper ventilated racks for planters to use when
But let m e stray from Diablo a bit. In other places is more fertile. A fella might flO
dryi ng marijuana, in order to preserve its quality. Moreover, he was the only
ro Guaya forest or Mayam or Biche or Chamma or Nariva forest and vou find dat
planter to have made overtures to the distributors at their selling locations in is virgin forest. You .find he has an opportunity to plant more, threefold, fou rf old, dan
San Fernando, and helped to set up some of the new ones. More detai ls of this in an area like where I am livin ·. So you .find up dere you ha1'e pmportimwlly more
aspect of his role will be described in chapter 3. marijuana xrowin.' And a proportion(i/ quanTity of pmduus comin ' our too.
About cultivation, Darius conf ided these opinions: When a man starts to plant manjuana, he thinks about money. And when he start.\'
to cut de land, he th inks dat de more land I can cut, de more money I can make. So
Let me tell _you more about de plantin '.Around about 1968 den, as l was tellin ' you, when a man is in primitive forest, he cuts de most amount of' land he can cut and
ganja cultivation .1prang up in rhose three areas: .Jeffers, Guaya, and Biche. The p lant de most amount he can plant. A man does plant up to an acre. Fe/las xo out on
 Chapter 2 How the Ganja Complex Was Diffused 43
42

deir own, calculate how much dev could plant in a year and act completely alone. The Rastafari and other growers (such as the sons of the fanner Indian
Dar is de usualtinJ<. When he come out with dat, he make a few thousand and decide growers) opened up other areas to culti vation than the original southeastern
whether to go hack in again dat year or not. rai n forests. Other growing villages have been: San Pedro , Mayaro ,
Most plwl/Ct:~ does planr only once j(Jr de .w ar. De time dey choose is de rain_v sea· Guayaguayarere , Manzanilla , Piparo, Tabaquite, Biche, and Penal. The
>·on, June going hack to September. You find dat dose gu_vs, de most dt:~' will come out Rastafari were the pioneers in moving into the more inaccessible rain forests,
with is a 300 pounds of marijuana. Less dan two acre, because de landfertile dong here.
such as those northward along the eastern coast, ncar towns like Matelot.
Until recelll times even if a man come out with 1,000 pounds of marijuana. he
worddn 't make much money. Because de police wasn't as heavy on de planter.\ as dey
Toco, and C umana . They had also started cultivating in Fyzabad , Gran
are now. So _VOII_jind dere was u lot r!f marijuana aroun' and de price was cheaper. So Couva , and the Northern Range.
for de vear a man use to make $20,000 or $30.000 arzd he coo/wit' dat. And den he In 197X, Rastafari brethren were planning innovations in culti vation to sur-
will go hack a next _vear because he feel, like me, dat dey have a future in marijuana. mount the threat posed to large plantations by surveillance by police helicop-
I am not dimmin · myself of dol view, I am still holdin · da! view seriouslv. What ter. Sinsemilla production techniques. developed in the United States (north-
make me stravfrom it a lillie hit is how de police opera tin ' at de present time. Aje1-1· ern California and Orego n initially) and Jamaica, which requires fewer
_vears ago 1 UH~ to see mvself push in ' marijuana for 20-30 vears to come and makin ·
intensively cultivated female trees to produce a higher potency and greater
someting olll (~(nothing, someting that had no value hefore.
yield per plant, were being implemented .
Bw you see planters have children and people don't stay long in de business he-
cause of dat responsibility. And as de law becomes more drastic, even more people
1vill stav out of" it as soon as dey can. A fella might stay in il j(Jr two-three years. I
know men who plant ganja for one year or two years and say: I had enough, I'm not NOTES
planting anymore. Dey just can't take de jam min': dey not hardcore men. So j(Jr most
people de amount dey plant and de amount o( time dey plant is inconsiderable. But I. Marijuana has been called by many names in Tri nidad and the Caribbean. In Ja-
den I know men who plantin' longer dan I am in business, or since I in business. maica. Hindi names like "ganja" have been retained . In Trinidad, the metropoli tan termi-
But now dey have good business all over de Caribbean too. Like St. Vincent, nology- " pot .'' ''grass," " weed ," "tea," "herb," "reefer" -was follo wed at first; later, an
Grenada, St. Lucia. and all dese small Caribbean countries. Dey so small, dey cyan/ attempt to appropriate the plant and its uses as indigenous to Trinidad resulted in "tampee .'·
,!?mW, hut de ting spreadin '. Look at Barbados, it can't cultivate marijuana period. Gradually, however. "ganj a' ' and Rastafari words li ke " i-ti ons" o r " i-cient herbs" became
Dat is one flat is/an'! So a lot of our money makin 'here dependin' on de .foreign mar- commonplace . " Kaya" was a name coi ned by Bo b Marley, the famous Jamaican reggae
ket. Dey had some men sendin' 200 pounds ofmar!juana to Canada every two weeks. mus ician , in his song " Kaya .''
Dis makin ·money man. Dey should let de ganja nm and let de foreign money run. 2. Many Indians and person s of mixed ancestry claimed they were "black" o r " African"
Look in Jamaica, 1 hear de ganja does earn more dan de bauxite, hanana, and all duri ng the contentio us Black Powe r years . Sec be low
dar chupidness all put together. 3. In 1976 , " cannabis psychosis" was held respo nsible for many cases of mental dis-
turbance brought to Trinidad ian hospitals, when doctors discovered that the patient had
The most recent development in local cultivation has been the settlement of smoked marijuan a. Patients were treated with hourly mixed dosages of phen iamazines
villages by young urban Africans, all of them Rastafari and former city dealers, (Melleril, Artrane . Ch lorpromaz ine . Haldol). S ide effec ts of these pharmaceuticals in-
who have commenced cultivating marijuana themselves. One such settlement cluded euphoria , Parkinson' s-li ke effects, and exc itability, fo llowed by acute depression .
comprising twenty-five Rastafari brothers had become well known in 1977 for A reader is surprised to discover these effects recorded in the clin ical reports of patients,
after a few days under medicatio n. and to fi nd them attributed to the co ntinuing agency of
the quality of their ganja, and for the fact that they dealt strictly by Rastafari
marijuana . In young Wo rthy 's case . be had smoked no more than two puffs of marij uana
principles. They sold marijuana only to other Rastafari, in an arrangement of over an interval of two weeks -and he could not even be certain of that 1
trust in which scales ("an instrument of Babylon": see chapter 4) were not used. 4. Chacon, the last Span ish governor of Trinidad , had invited French planters, t1eeing
One brother in San Fernando purchased two and a half pounds in this manner; slave revolts fomented by Eng lish agents provocateurs on the smaller islands, to settle the in-
and on returning home discovered that the package was short by at least half a terior of the island . By so doing, he hoped to stave off be ing invaded by the English himsel f.
pound. The next morning he returned to the settlement and received a good 5. El Dorado is the name given to the (mythical) cities of gold which lured European
three-quarters of a pound without argument to make up the loss. explorers and adve nturers to the Americ as .
After two years of operation, the elder brother in this group had been able
to construct a $50,000 house, where all the brethren have access. A motorcar
was purchased next for the journeys they made to San Fernando.
 Chapter 3

Economic and Social-Organizational

Underpinnings of the Ganja Complex

In the initial stages of experimention or well into the incubation period, there
had been few profits to be gained through the distribution of marijuana . Ini-
tiates were dependent upon such sources of irregular supply as returning mi-
grants, students, and sailors. A user, happening upon a source, would share
the marijuana among his fellow initiates without the intention of even re-
couping whatever money he might have invested in it. The marijuana was
consumed communally, in a secluded place. S ince no wrappers (cigarette pa-
pers) were as yet available, tobacco was emptied out of filter cigarettes and
replaced with finely crushed marijuana. The fi lter packing was then removed ,
and the cigarette was lit and passed from hand to hand. Later, the fine paper
backing was removed from the foil paper enclosing Du Maurier cigarettes
and used as wrappers to make joints. Corn (maize) sheaves , raw tobacco
leaves, and brown paper torn from paper bags (the latter wi th some concern
for the lungs!) were also used for want of wrapping papers.

DIFFERENTIATION OF "PUSHERS"

The increase in the marijuana-using population of San Fernando from about

5,000 limers around 1970 to over 17,000 in 1977, as well as the proliferation
of local culti vators, are the work of the original users, the unemployed
African limers who advertised marijuana use and made it available in the city
throughout the period. In accompli shing these results, the young unemployed
persons found themselves organized in a novel form of social relationships,
the block , or gate; and they converted to Rastafari. The fi rst of these sim ulta-
neous developments is described in this chapter, the second in chapter 4 .

45
 r
46 Clwpter 3 Economic and Social-Organi;:.ational Underpinnings 47

As demand rose in San Fernando after 1970, the early organi zation of the In these five limes, the persons mentioned generated considerable excite-
traffic proved inadequate for supplying consumers with reliable or regular ment as they entered into variously principled, variously durable alliances
quantities of marijuana. To ensure that the city was supplied regularly, cer- among themselves while striving for efficiency in the traffic.
tain conditions had to be met. In the city. for example, a technical division In the interview below, the Jaguar from Prince Alfred Street recalls his ca-
of labor in the traffic was required. Selling operations had to be run by more reer as a distributor. beginning in 1974 . He gives a detailed picture of the se-
than one person. One had to buy from growers in the countryside and to ries of minute transformations which culminated in the block. Neighborhood
bring the marijuana back to the city - a day' s work, often-while others had limer and neighborhood timer, husband and wife, coworker and coworker,
to remain at the selling location in the city. Otherwise a location could not fellow gamblers: these are some of the relationships which were tried out in
acquire a reputation for permanence and regularity. At busy selling loca- the five limes for their efficiencies in the traffic, before the block emerged as
tions , several persons might be needed to parcel out the marijuana and to the most efficient. Some of them have survi ved in the block.
sell it. Corresponding to the evolution of socioeconomic relationships was the in-
Many San Fernandians interviewed during this research were sure that the creasing sophistication of the trade. In the Jaguar' s career, the technical as-
entrepreneurial urge- to find a way of keeping a selling operation open pects of the marketing of marijuana themselves passed through several trans-
twenty-four hours a day (a task requiring manpower and organization) and fo rmations. Thus, in the beginning, when marijuana was of secondary
suppl ying it with adequate amounts of marijuana (a task requiring further or- importance economically. and in the first stages of transformation after 1970,
ganizational and business skills) - first emerged in one of five limes , around marijuana was packaged in $1 joints only : first, "cigarette joints" made from
1967 to 1969. These five limes were all centrall y located . emptied-out c igarettes and then , after wrapping papers became available,
In Short Street , just off High Street , the main shopping center, where taxis hand-rolled . At this time, purchases from growers rarely exceeded a couple of
going to and from all comers of the island may be found , was a very de- ounces.
pressed neighborhood comprising the dwellings of manual laborers, sex Later, as transformations approached more closely to the block, there was
workers, and petty thieves. One building was supported by remittances from greater variety in packaging. Catering to different sizes of income and con-
abroad. Two active tailors , a shoemaker, and a bar paid the rents in another. sumer tastes , distributors not only sold joints but 3-bags, 5-bags , 10-pieces ,
Hogarth, a seaman and former bad john , used it for selling regular supplies of 20-pieces , half-o unces, and ounces .
both local and imported marijuana. In time he attracted Stevens. Constable, Finally, after 1976 to 1978 , when blocks or gates had been recognized as
Simpson, Carl, Stanley, and Blueberry, all from other San Fernando limes , to distinct socioeconomic entities and after the conversion of their members to
operate the block with him. Rastafari , the minimum purchases from growers were pounds, and export was
Close to this block , but further removed from High Street , in a more varie- organized to the smaller Caribbean islands , in quantities of several pounds at
gated, more thri ving lower-class neighborhood , were Borneo, Arctic , Ruhr, a time. The Jaguar says:
and Sadowa. Just off Mucurapo Street in the Roy Joseph Scheme , close to
De .first man bring ganja on de hlock was a man name Pascal. a halj~Chinese
where the San Fernando Central Market is located, along with many drug-
brother. He and Riad: a tall Indian bo.v who use to live by de corner. Pascal and Riad
stores, wholesalers, and other bu sinesses attracting large crowds, were Louis use to get de marijuana from Cobra in Port·o.fSpain. But I wa.m 't aroun ' when it
XIV and Machiavelli and about six other neighborhood limers . come really: I o nly come to smoke when ganja did build up on the street. Yo u re-
Further along Mucurapo Street, into a portion of it which used to be called member Ttnker ? 'linker give me my first smoke. All dat was a roun' 1967.
Prince Alfred Street, was an extremely large lime , for a long time an attrac- When I {?et de first smoke ... / -man didn 't know mllfin ' about ganja ... I and I
tion to limers outside its immediate neighborhood. Stevens dominated sales start to roll under che house dey. l-A,mghin ' and carryin· on eh.' I wa.m ' t with Jasmine
on the street after moving from Short Street , among Sabinus , Buen Retire, yet, I was under Miss Vio d ongstairs dey. After dat day, I get to like it.
I really start push in ' aroun 'about /973-74. At dat time d q , d e pusha on de block
Sachs, the Jaguar, Ras Chari , Saida, Tug, Argyll, Bunuel , and others.
was Stevem·. Dey use to have /plenty ganjaj here: dah was one ah de mos out-
A fifth lime. along the busy Cipero Street , was somewhat cut off from the .\·tandin' plaas, right ' But dey had Short Stret'l: Short Street had it time. When
chain stretching along Mucurapo Street, from High Street (with Hogarth) at Stevens come he takeover, because he had everyting. He use to have X [ Mandrax, or
the north to Prince Alfred Street, at the southern end. Kuper, S ingham , Mao, Quaaludes], ganja. And you findfellas use to go off on X too. Dat cool don g n ow.
Canc ian , Dyson, Pitts , and Barnes started and operated the selling location. Yeah, so Stevens was de man.
 r
48 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organizational Underpinnings 49

Well, my time come in. Well, you ha' 10 say it come in late, late dong. It had oth- you know how much I get ? More than 250joints. Pascal rollin ' now: so dis is nor cig-
ers like Ra.~ Chari, but den, dey use to carry on for Stevens, right? Stevens had Ras arette joints. And now me and he pushin ' on de block.
Chari, Bunuel .. . a lot of young fel/ns on de block use 10 push for him. How here- So now de block get heavier, you see. Anthony come on de block. A lillie doug/a
ally get out a here ... something happen, and he get a heuer place in Roy Joseph boy who use To go Benedicts {St. Benedict's College. La Romaine]. He startin' to
Scheme and he become famous dey now. D(m l start up. I start ttp about a year after have paper: wrappers. He come with wrappers. Somebody else come with gunja.
he done leave here already. A .w~ar afrer. Dennis. You know a fella name Dennis use to com<~ here and lime with we? All ah
Myfirst vi~·it to get ganja ... you know afella name rhe Priest. From Poona? You dem ha ve someting small. Bill de real heavy man is Pascal and me.
know Brahma' You must know dem. Dem davs he use to push a motorbike. A thin Well, Pascal and me didn't stay together too long. In de few weeks we were to-
dark Indian fe/W. Short. Ytm musT know the PriesT. Well. I use 10 go up in de country gether, we really lick up a lot of cash though. Den well, he start to push independent
. .. nah, dat time /never use to go. But he come on de block. Somebody say: dah is and me too. But we really lick up money. I get so develop in de ganja, I even start
thl~ PriesT. Well. he talkin'. And when he done talk and ready to go. I call him. I say goin 'for my own paper now.
f would like to buy a piece of ganja. He my: vou really wallt dar? He say: you'll go Dey had a .fella . . . Rommel. He had a brother in Carenage {Carenage docks. near
for it now? lr was a Saturday, never j(!rget it. I say yeah and we jump on he bike and Port-of-Spain]: use to work on a hoot. So when I get develop in dis way, I use to get
we gone Poona. Dem days the Priest was de man: he only selling pound and half~ my paper too. Rommel use to push too: he was from Erin and we use to work to-
pound, not/0-piece {$101; 2 ounce and ling. An ounce dem days was about $15. gether on de same shift at the Public Transport Depot {The Panther had recently
Well, duh is what I start off·with. An ounce. I pay $ /5. I use lO work at Carvalho I a landed a new job cleaning buses]. As cleaners, right ? He use to go for ganja: we use
Portuguese-owned furniture store} dem days, eh ~ Makin ' nwttre.u and ting. When/ to hire a car; I really get big, man. I use to know all de drivers: I use to get one from
work, if I get a week work and I have more to go, always use to borrow money - 1 de Pofma stan' To come and meet we at work 2 o'clock in de mornin ' when de fore-
didn't have to t:ie mih mother no money eh-1 always use to borrow a little piece . . . man and dem sleeping. And we use to go Po(ma, Poole, San Pedro, up in Kildare
And I had intention to buy a piece a ganja, to start to push ... So /make sure I had Trace, all over, lookin 'for ganja.
mih money. But I didn't expectin 'de man dat day, eh. But I had dat money put away Me anwhile, Jasmine carry in ' on de ling at home: she get fa mous too. Dem days
to get dot ganja anytime. So I did take $30 so from de store. now I sellin ' 10-piece, ounce and all kinda tin g. I push in' off . .. leh me see . . . ~~
So from dot $/5, I make about $80. Dem days I was new 011 de block. So I ain 't I start off with one and a half pounds on Friday, hy Sundny even in' I done dat. And
dif(gin 'for police. because police ain't diggin 'for me. Dem days dey wasn't so heavy, back in de country. Dat first buy I make in Kildare Trace, by an old one-foot fe/la:
you know. Nowadays, like dey more ... itch-y. da was $30 fo r de cur, and Rommel take half-pound and I take one and one-half
Well, I use to live with Jasmine, den, you know. So I come home. I couldn 'r roll pound. We use to go regular dey, early in de morn in '. Because we did know de peo-
ganja. Pack dem in cigarettes. Man had to roll out [empty} de cigarettes, cut up de ple good. We use to get good ganja. At dat time now, is dollar piece I use to deal
ganjafine, fine, and pack dem in de cigare/le. Cigarette joints . .. So I roll out about in, rather dan joints. De onliest way I would keep a joint is for if a f ella ask me j i1r
80, pack dem away in a Flexpan tin, hide it under mih mother house, bathe, change dat: den I wrap it out and gie him. But dollar piece in a piece a brown paper. Some
mih clothes and went out 011 de block. people use to give wrappers too, but not I.
Dem days I hardly eatin ': only drinkin 'fruit juice. Well you know de fellas on de Rommel use to do the same thing dat time: cigarette joints. Bill den I say: hear
block: well, look ... Didn 't have rw hig pushers den, right. De fellal· who buyin' . .. nuh, if we get wrappers, 1 could wrap out joints for you. So dah is how we siR hi up
like Argyll maybe would like to buy ... ah telling you fellas who wasn 't in de lime- wrappers from he brother in Carenage, Port-of-Spain. Because he was on a hoat so
light ah pushin' yet. like Argyll, Peaches, King. All those who pushin ' now? None was we pur it to him. We was really brave in dem days, you know. We jus use to lef de
pushin ' when 1 start ojf So I tell them and I start to get sale. Word pan·: look, the work and go Carenage. Dem days up dey, dey use to sell double pack !of cigarette
Jaguar have someting nice dey. papers, or wrappers/: 4 for $2. In Carenage, Rommel brother set us up with a whole
Dem days I use to push heavy. I was de onliest.fe!la den you could come any day box for $25. So now we husrlin 'papers. Wrappers at $1 a packet.
or night and I have ganja. Because f stuyin here all de time while de rest ahfellas I really get big. I had about 3 arrests. First one was past Broth er's Road. In a
gone limin'. Is dey I start to come famous. hus with two poun 's ah ganja. I wait in '. waitin 'for a taxi and I see a bus com in '
All den I couldn 't roll f make joints], de first man roll for me was the same hal.f- so- me ain 't ha ' to pay, ah work in ' in de bus company-/ get on. I did see dis man
Chinee f ella, Pascal. Me and he was always friends because we grow up together, scopin ' me from head to toe and I did say: is police. But l say: is my money, I ain't
you know. So now he start to pull good with me because he know Poona too. So he throwin ' away no f(anja. So dey hold me. A white boy from up on de Coffee who
~·e to wrap for me now. He use To go itz de Scheme and get wrappers. So now me use to come here by Boots: well, he bail me out. Ah get a $75 fine and I had to
and the Chinee going, huyinx, coming back dong, wrappinR out. And both uh we on pay a lawyer $35 to talk for mih. And / lose de two poun 's. But dat didn 't stop me,
de block. Second time we must be buy about $130 in ganja: ha{f lb. When Pascal I had money - 1 had to buy TV, fridge, fix up de house; we use to eat. Plenty time
come in de ling-because he always smokin '-we use to take out a piece one side for fetein ' [partying]. Dah is how de money come and run ... so I start off with two
we to smoke. Nothing big. So .from dar halj~pound ah ganja, after I take out de piece, poun 's ax ain.

l
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50 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organi;;ational Underpinnings 51

Is de lw· lock-up dar break me. A Saturday Randy Pierre [San Fernando's inspec- From Cipero Street: Botts, Kuper's younger brother, went to the housing
tor of police/ come by me. I was wrappin ' out a five joint ji1r a fella. And Jasmine scheme on Rushworth Street and developed what is perhaps the most pros-
say: look a stranger comin' up de yard. But he already come up on me. I did only
perous block in the city in 1978. His associates include Ras Iron, Boyee,
have time to run and drop de ~:anja outside de back. About two poun '.1· again. Well,
he come inside and search and ling. He .find de five joints. He take dar. Den he call
Prince. and a number of others. Singham settled in Duncan Village. Cancian
me and .fend me for de ganja. built up a block with nine other very religious Rastafari in La Romaine. Pitts
Df!y lock me up. Dah Jowls rile early parr ah IC)77. Ned mother srund milz bail. I had and Barnes went further up Cipero Street, developed a block there, and were
$250 in my pocket. In de house. dey say: turn out vour pockets. So I take out de money. the first , after 1976, to become heavily involved with export to the other
Dey say dey f£·el dey should charge me /{1r rraffickin '. You kno11' sel/in ' ganja. Dah is Caribbean islands . They were personall y responsible for the introduction and
a d(fferenr charge from pol·se.u ion. Ah man in de back sav: take care all you count de spread of marijuana use, Rastafarianism , and block organization in Barbados.
money and gie he !Jack correct. Dey tell he: Eh. you want w get lock up too 1 .'
The climate of trial and error, of striving to succeed in the marijuana traf-
You knoa: when de_v take me in de car; Pierre call Jasmine and hand she de money
fic, left a palpable feeling of exhilaration in San Fernando. Loquacious and
mil up. She thought all de money was dey, just roll up: and he drive r~fjfast after dat.
You know how much he give she: $9. Den dey char:s;:e me for poHession. Dey charge expressive young men (and even by now a few young women) were being ex-
me in court . .. Is de prosecutor who save me. Wh en dey ask whether I had other con- ercised very vigorously to show their aptitude in business. Learned abilities
victions, de Crown Prosecutor open a hook and he say: 110. Although I did have two. as bad johns, gamblers, or as the spokesmen/organizers of 1969 to 1970 could
You see. Jasmine hrother wife- Charlie wife-did know dis policeman. because Jas- be assets. Often age was a decisive factor: the first marijuana smokers were
mine talk to he. So dey charge m e $700. I had to pay half one time. Everybodv was men in their thirties in 197 4, who were among the "many to be called" to-
frighten: de Indian woman who take mih bail, Jasmine. But den de Indian woman wards, experimenting towards the block ; hut frequently younger men , more
say: don 't dig nuttin '. And shl' and Jasmine gone. Dey did already put me in de cell;
experienced in use, trafficking , and Rastafari , and furthest removed from for-
bur when dey didn't take me out to go Port-of-Spain. I get a lillle glad. Arul in de
even in ' Jasmine and de Indian woman come up with de money. Since den I really
mer manifestations of the lime, were "the few chosen" to realize it. Among
ain 't pick up. the latter, associations and eventually blocks emerged which were more sta-
ble, their members more committed, contented, and creative than among the
The period from 1969 to 1976 is filled with failures and successes of the fom1er. Other assets included: supporti ve parents , inherited patron-dient ties
sort described by the Jaguar. While the search for an appropriate socioeco- in the neighborhood , a grandfather committed to African reclamation of the
nomic form continued on the five limes, migration from them was taking land (Botts) , and other such formative influences upon character and resolve.
place to other parts of the city, where the newly arrived brother would lend Words were found to express the motivational exertions experienced in the
himself to transformations in neighborhoods there. passage from disintegrated lime to block. Such social, cultural/motivational ,
Thus, from Prince Alfred Street: Stanley went to Short Street, where he economic exertions expressed themselves in the symbolism of marijuana,
"had" the block for two years. Then he helped Jeru and Joseph set up neigh- which now made men "think constructive" and led them ' ·to see the light.''
boring blocks. Next he went to Vistabella, his grandmother's neighborhood, They are also the central feature of Rastafari .
where, in addition to setting up his own block, he helped establish Simba's Matos, a leading Rastafari block leader in San Fernando in 1978, describes
and Baraka's. the passage as one from "the fleshical" to ' 'the heartical":
Vim joined his family in Cocoyea, building a prosperous block there con-
tinuously from about 1974 to 1978 . First time, de way 1-mun a-see de block. you know . .. It come like . .. in dem times,
Matos went to the adjoining street. Naz also moved to a street nearby. Both it was just jleshical. Like most ah de time, most ah de hrethren just a -come for most
built prosperous blocks in these locations. ah de day and just sit up and na do nuttin ·and just gamble along de way . . . and
From Short Street: Gentleman Slim went to New York and established a waste time, you know.
block in Brooklyn which he still operated in 1978. Mistry went to his own But den , in dis here time, de inspiration start ro come on. It come like . .. broth-
ers start to locks up /grow dreadlocks, as Rastafari believe the Bibil~ enjoins] from
neighborhood on Coffee Street, starting off Xenophon , Takis , and others in
dem times. But dey didn 't know de way; dey didn 't see de light. As man locks grow,
turn. Stevens went to Prince Alfred Street and later to Roy Joseph Scheme. In man ha' wi.1·dom open, right '! Man start to see through different lines. Man start to
neighboring areas like Carlton Lane and Leotaud Street, Ras Blaka and oth- sight de light. And when man see de light, is just . .. man 's 1vorks to be seen. Dar is
ers were supplied by him; then opened their own blocks. de heights: within de man a-see de light, his works .. . people ha ' to see.
52 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-OrKanizationa/ UnderpinninKs 53

So den il come like different brothers Jtart to stra)~ Like who a-stay fo r Jah, trod was still da rkness de brothers a-deal in dem times, you know. So dat had to mash up
de road a Zion. And who a-stay in de fleshical. although they might even have locks, any way: it wasn 't firm still.
dem j ust trod a nex ' mad. So den dat start to divide up even the brothers. What is de hfock ? De block is where people a-come to do business.
All in 1967 so. it was just de jleshical. It was just dat plenty brothers a-live around
de place. dem gather in one place, dem lime and gossip whole day. And j u.\"1 a-gam-
ble among dey se({ lt was like . . . ntlltin ·as far a s l concem ed. Even de las 'f ew days
here wa s more dan (/(~ m day.~ . because dem days was really nuttin ·. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BLOCK OR GATE
Ganj a s tart to come in, you know. And dah . .. a s the herbs com e in now, it come
like dah was de /igh1. f.l· dar is what start up everything heartical. B ecause within
The block, or gate took shape in the various ne ighborhoods in San Fernando
through de herbs. brothers like see de 1rron g ... dem a-dealin '. And brothers /ik(:
gradually between 1974 and 1978. In time, as the links with blocks in New York
even s ee de way and begin to trod. Just time and time.
More times is de ganja dar come ... You see. de Father does com e like a tief in C ity and elsewhere multiplied and were strengthened , blo cks acquired a multi-
de niKhl in dis here time: so like many ah He missions does come in and you national fonn. A block is a novel fonn of socioeconomic organization among
doeJn 't kno w ho w it come and 1vhen it come. Like den even we don 't kno w how former San Fem and ian timers. It has certain disti ng uishing characteristics,
RaJta come on de land. Because it was here from Creation. So den de herbs was which are derived from the technical requirements of the marijuana traffic and
always from Creation. So de man cyan/ pinpoint: is dey it start. All man know it from the unique social inheritances of the San Femandian limers. They are:
was around ... .
Dem rime. it was anyone a-deal it still. You knm~: It come like one man might have
• Loyalty: T here is a certain loyalty between a leader and from one to as
a portion. dis man might buy some from he and bring it dong smalln ami sell ! when
I come or a nex ' man. You will nel'er know who a-deal in it because you might come many as nine young men and wo men whom he leads. The appearance of
and ask anyone: give m e some/inK. you know. When it start to come, i.1· like everyone the latter - women - should be marked as another novel feature of block or-
use to have someting. Or it might come and meet you in de town. Who have, have; ganization. Women had not figured largely in liming activities.
or who ain 't have still smoke, yor1 know. This loyalty may occasionally asto nish an observer. It rests upon apprecia-
But dem time .. . you see, man didn 't sight up de light in dem times still. So den tion of the leader 's a ratoria! skill and the q uality of his Rastafari message. Peo-
it was j ust aroun ', to open l on an /-dilation [meditation]. ple associate with a particular leader because he will make them "see de light,"
More times, /-man use to buy and sell and to dwell on de block dey, you know. A ll
or enco urage them to be more "upfull" (orthodox) Rastafari: he will clarify
in de time ah Pascal and Ras Chari on dis block /-man na did sight any big pusher
y et, you know. Because man might have someting and by Friday, he have nothing;
Rastafari thinking and help them seek o ut Rasta ways of do ing and being.
·while de smallest man might have a portion dat day. It come like .. . is just man seek Thus, the d ivision between leader and led is thought of in religious or
for love and within dah man have de love, man ah deal with it, you know. caste terms. In deference to this belief and to Rastafari doctrine, terms of
So through dem times, it come to ... like. on every reKion you go. you go hear . . . equality are used among brethren , the leader being disti ngu ished sometimes
well, dah brother dong dey real good f has a good marijuana businen"/. and dah by the term "elder brother." In the egal itari an ideology, there are neither
brother good. you know. A certain time, it just rise up so 'til every brother was just " leaders" nor "led ."
good. Dem block just superb you know. • Division of Labor: The d ivision between leader and led, however, is also a
De most highest place in San Fernando come to be Prince Alfred Street, you know.
definite divisio n of labor in the co nd uct of the marij uana traffic . The leader
Dat come to bl' one of de established places. Dey come like how Observatory Street
stay in Port-of-Spain. De Kate by Doctor and dem- a kinda establishnl place for usually has made the initial purchases of marijuana; makes frequent trips to
Ra sta. the country to purchase it or dec ides upon some strategy to be supplied reg-
From dey plenty brethren branch out. But den men rise up in all regions, be- ularly; arranges personnel o n the block; decides how and when to package
cau se well den , de mys tic [the Rastafari message of the Inner, or Rasta, Self] was the marijuana ; and has formal control o ver the redistri butio n of surpluses .
in de air. you know. People just starr to knat up. knat up, knat up [grow dread- T he Jed perform services req uired o n the blo ck, such as packagi ng and
locks]. Den dah wa s just de collin', y ou know. Because well den many were called se lling marijuana; and also shoul der domestic responsibilities, especially
and f ew go he chosen. In dis time .lah go he choo sin '; it de m tim es it was j ust de
w hen block member s have young children . Both leader and led perform all
callin 'you kn ow.
Man wasn 't knat up in de Black Pm<.'er times, you know. But man a-th inkin '. But functio ns (other than the specific leadership o nes) without distinction -
in dem times de block was jus' zes up: anytime you pass, people in de road. de road even ho usehold o nes. They sm oke from his supplies of marijuana, eat from
fu ll up, de house full up, you know. It used to lively up de street in a .fo mz. But den it his store, and receive small advances of cash or marijuana to meet a few
 54 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organi;:ational Underpinning~· 55

everyday needs. If someone is arrested, the leader is expected to arrange of his family. he grew up in a mixed neighborhood: one in which there were
bail , and to pay a lawyer and the fine . Similarly, if someone is ill or has both Indians and Africans and in which there were both those who would
some urgent, unexpected expense, the leader will help. make it and those who would not.
The leader is always under pressure to redistribute his surpluses in a The family identified itself completely with those who would not make it ,
manner to ensure the survival of hi s block. Older leaders, men in their thir- both Indian and Africans, but in this neighborhood, however, they were
ties, the first smokers and experimenters, and you nger ones, men in their mostly African . The childre n. therefore, became very "black-heart" as they
twenties, are distinguishable in this matter: the former have greater diffi- were incorporated into the lime, and in the case of Vim. lived throu gh. in
culty in resolving the problem and have a higher turnover of personnel; heart and mind, its transformation into a block.
while the latter have succeeded in finding satisfactory ways to reinvest This identification is a matter of importance to the family as a whole, and
ganja revenues , creating more stable, more loyal, more innovative, more " T- one learns to appreciate the fact best when it is questioned. When they lived
ry" (good for 1-man =more genuinely Rastafari) blocks. in this neighborhood, Vim 's father was a salesman in a hardware store and
• Coresidence and Ritual: At an accelerati ng pace, block me mbers live to- earned very little; his mother did equally poorl y, selling Indian pickles and sa-
gether and share in communal ritual s, religious celebrations, and feasts. A vories. Eventuall y. when Vim was about ten (1964), his father built a concrete
variety of intimate relations exists among man y coresidents. Often, for a house in a considerably supe rior suburban area with plenty of unoccupied
youngster whose parents have migrated abroad, the block is the chief land surrounding well-built houses, although it was by no means a luxury
source of support , instruction , and care. suburb. The father also launched his own business as an itinerant salesman,
selling hardware goods from his recently acquired station wagon in the coun-
DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME SAN FERNANDO BLOCKS try districts. Vim did not move with the fami ly, but stayed on a street close to
the lime; he would later have a child by a young woman here, and his sister
The following descriptions were selected from field notes describing San Fer- would also become the common-law wife of Ras Chari (who would establish
nando blocks. They were written in 1977 and l97X . They indicate the degree the block here) and the mother of his two children.
to which block performance depended upon the personality of the block The eldest daughter, however, "turned out different." She had been sent to
leader, his relations with his associates, his involvement in the neighborhood , commercial school, where she learned shorthand, typing. and bookkeeping, and
the richness of his Rastafari conceptions, and the symbols he generated. in 1968, she married her first employer, a moderately prosperous Indian dry-
When customers purchased marijuana from a block, they recognized that goods merchant. This change in her fortunes caused her to adopt abruptly her
these were qualities or attributes of the commodity they had bought and an- husband's racism: she began to treat her brothers and sisters strictly as guests,
ticipated that they would profoundly shape their experience of it. disallowing them any familiarity with her possessions and her new home.
Despite the broad similarities which identified them as a novel socioeconomic Vim 's icy regard for this betrayal, not only of the family 's " black" experi-
form , blocks diverged in many particulars: in the manner in which the contact ence but of the hopes the family had placed in her, the one on whom dollars
with growers or other suppliers was made, in the quality of marijuana which was were invested for education, is central to his critique of money and Babylon ,
purchased . in the process by which decisions were made as to 4uantity and as to the bourgeois pagan world. When the fa mily, as an ideology and an organiza-
who made purchases, whether marijuana was produced by the joint, ounce, or tion, is played out as a strategem to advance aspirations, a weak link is fatal to
pound, in the utilization of labor power, in the number of persons supplying the all its members. Vim recalls bitterly how no help was ever forthcoming fro m
labor, in the type of relationships which existed among the laborers , and with re- her; how she used her younger brothers and sisters as servant'> whenever she
spect to the redistribution of whatever surpluses the traffic produced. The de- requested the labor, and forgot about them afterward . He quarrels with his
scriptions of a few selected blocks below were selected to illustrate them: brother-in-law, whose racism is in fact quite indigestible: a fight almost
erupted between them once, when the brother-in-law tried to demonstrate the
Vim's Block thickness of "Creole [African] people's skins" by fiercely pinching Ras
Chari's infant son. Whenever this sister and her family visit, Vim is provoked
Vim is a young man of twenty-four, who is extremely sensitive to movements into taunting his parents for tolerating their presence; they are clearly sympa-
of racial and class politics. Phenotypically Indian, as are the other members thetic toward him , especially his father, who takes the occasion to display his

j
56 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organi;:ational Unde rpinnings 57

knowledge of current Rastafari speech, thereby making the brother-in-Jaw un- and his brother, the Champ, went about the growing blocks preaching his
easy; but they contain the quarreling as best they can. Rastafari gospel of non violence and self-help with great rhetorical flourish.
Vim dropped out of school when he was eight ( 1962) . He explained that he His personal block took shape under a street lamp close to the white lady's
determined to master "many things so that I would have something to say house. By now, he was purchasing marijuana in half-pound batches, and
about them afterwards." This career took him through pitching marbles, kite could call on any one of a number of young men to assist him in wrapping
flying, slingshot hunting, and, fi nally, the Boy 's Industrial Home, for stealing out the marijuana in exchange for free supplies for personal use.
food from a shop. When he was twelve ( 1966), however. he managed to work By 1973, Vim had been expelled by the white lady after his first marijuana
out a position for himself, as a "son"/helper, with a " white lady" who li ved in arrest. The raid had been on his parents' house where he used to stash the bulk
yet another part of town (though still not too far away from the old lime). of his supply; but a certain coolness had alienated the white lady and hi mself,
It was while he was living at this woman's home that Vim began to smoke on his side because of the recent Black Power consciousness raising, and on
marijuana. While maintaining daily contact with the old lime in hi s first her side, on account of the rumors she had heard of Vim from nonsmoking
neighborhood, Vim tried it, experimentally and wi th great fear for his mental neighborhood youths who wanted Vim's downstairs apartme nt for a table ten-
health, as others were doing at that time. Like everyone else in these circles nis and weightlifting room.
of experimenters , he began to develop his point of view on unemployment , Vim relocated the block near his parents' house, where Gregory, his per-
Black Power, and politics. manent a-;sistant, coped with sales which could now be measured in pounds.
Vim does not have a great deal of respect for books and did not read Frantz On Carnival Tuesday of 1974, Vim, who is about 5'6" and as slight as a ten-
Fanon 1 and the radical literature as the others did. He contented himself with year-old, was arrested on the much more serious charge of attempted assault
the digests by others of what they had read , and for the most part agreed with on a policeman who tried to arrest him for marijuana. The police confiscated
what he heard. On the other hand, he has an enormous confidence in his own several pieces of jewelry, cash, and marijuana. He was sentenced to six
analytical ability, while his combative conversational style ensures him an au- months' imprisonment and lost substantial savings to pay lawyers' fees and
dience and heated exchanges of views. The first materials he uses in his think- other legal expenses.
ing are the earliest relations he has experienced , those within his family: and The costly setback did not shake Vim in his Rastafari beliefs nor his con-
as the drama of his eldest sister unfolded, it deepened his ironic understand- viction that poor Africans' best hope wa-; investment in alternatives, such as
ing of the forces which shaped his "trials and tribulations." At the same time the ones marijuana and his garden promised. He revived his block around his
he profited from the real strengths of his family: a cheerful, adaptable father parents' house in 1976, with Gregory, Brink, Moray, and Jeff, all Africans and
and a quiet, immensely dedicated mother, and their determination to cope and Rastafari , to help him sell marijuana and tend the garden . Moving sales be-
survive. For Vim, his relations with his associates and his conception of tween different campsites in the late afternoons , when many customers
Rastafari were modeled on an ideology of the " family." This emphasis in his sought marij uana smoking, he soon enjoyed the patronage and follow ing of
thinking distinguished him from many other Rastafari, who invoked "com- Indian youths from villages in the nearby sugar belt.
munity," "nation,'' and " race'' instead. In addition to the ideology of self-reliance, which had removed them from
Thus, while he accepted the fact of discrimination , he refused to see that it petty thievery, gambling, and idleness, Vim offered his associates the garden,
justified violent protest: there were alternatives persons might explore, if they marijuana, marijuana revenues, and the very real benefaction of his family.
did not waste time protesting, gambling, and provoking "the man" (authori- Gregory especially benefits fro m it ; for while the others have at least one par-
ties). Gradually, as the marijuana traffic expanded and after Vim became a ent, Gregory has only a very aged grandmother, who is more his responsibil-
regular distributor, he retired entirely from gambling houses, cinemas, and ity than he hers. Vim's mother and sisters cook vegetarian meals for the
dances, preferring to devote his free time to his vegetable garden, which he young Rastafari in the eveni ngs, using the produce from their garden; and
had prepared in the unoccupied land behind his father 's house. whenever they feel to lounge around the veranda or beneath the house, where
Vim took no active part in the Black Power uprisings in 1970; he talked the Champ and Vim have their rooms, they are made to feel welcome. By the
with the brothers, he limed with them, exposing himself to the same risks of end of 1976, they had converted others in the neighborhood to the belief in
arrest, canied the Black Power sloganeering to the "white lady" who lodged Jah and Haile Selassi-l's divinity, to shun Babylon , to man ifest the true
him , but otherwise, he said, tried to stay out of trouble . After the uprising, he "Ethiopian" I-man , the inner man , committed to "going forward."

j
58 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organizational Underpinnin gs 59

The innocence of Vim's family's, so far as marijuana use and sales are con- mother is in England, has nothing besides marijuana, now that he has been
cerned, has been established in spite of being subjected to considerable skep- expelled from school. Brink is slightly better placed , in that he may eventu-
ticism in the research. The only connection they have with the traffic, apart ally get work through his father, himself an unskilled Texaco worker. Jeff's
from the encouragements mentioned above . is that Vim's mother keeps his father is also in New York, and he is out of school, without qualifications .liv-
cash in her dressi ng table with her lingerie -quite a c ustomary hiding p lace ing on an aunt's kindness.
for money and other valuables in Trinidadian households. Vim also made in- Apart from hi s associates and some others among his clientele . Vim has no
numerable marijuana contacts in the country while assisting his father in his close ties with anyone e lse in the trade. Frequently, however, he travels to buy
business; but whi le his father to lerated his use of marijuana, Vim has never marijuana together with one of the leaders on another large. prosperous block,
requested him to use his motorcar to carry his marijuana. where Vim 's message is well respected and which has two gardens under cul-
Vim sells a pound of marijuana in one or two days. Brink and Jeff sell on the tivation , following Vim's advice. By traveling togethe r, they save costs and
streets around Cocoyea. Gregory remains near Vim's parents' house, while Vim are able to pool their knowledge of the countryside, and since thei r combined
sometimes sells in the mornings at the main offices of the Water and Sewerage money is often more than $1 ,000, they are able to use the large sum to extract
Administration, and on some weekend nights. outside dance halls and parties . bargains from the growers.
No more than four to six hours a day is given over to selling, although it may
take two men a couple of hours extra to wrap out a pound every two days. On
Stanley's Block
most evenings, from 5:00P.M. to 8:00 P.M., the block - Vim, Brink , Jeff. Moray,
and Gregory-is in session at its movable campsites, attracting scores of cus- Once, the occasion arose at Stanley 's block for those present to go out and
tomers, some of whom remain behind to hear Vim and the Champ. While they buy a meal. The Rastafari are very strict about diet and normally prefer to eat
remain, they smoke marijuana , sometimes free of charge. On one exceptional home-cooked, saltless , vegetarian food, but it is not always easy to prepare
evening, when Vim was joined by brothers from another block, he shared food on all blocks, ail the time. Stanley led the way to a largish concrete
smoke which would have been valued commercially at about $80. house where a pair of sisters and two friends had set up a " parlor": they sold
Though generous , Vim is often angry when the rec ipients of his largesse do sandwiches of curried chickpeas or potatoes. homemade buns, sugar cakes,
not immediately run out, cultivate gardens , and become Rastafari , as Vim has coconut pastries, fudge , and a variety of local drinks or tisanes, such as
been instructing them. The marijuana which is consumed on evening sessions mauby and sorrel.
and which Gregory, Brink , Moray, Jeff, and the Champ con sume makes seri- The sisters are bespectacled and in their fifties . The parlor business enter-
ous inroads into his capital. Nor have things always worked smoothly with his prise is clearly a hand-me-down from a more genteel past, when it was for so-
associates. When he was restarting his block in 1975 after the big arrest, hav- cial gatherings, church functions, high teas , bazaars , civil receptions, and
ing lost savings and je welry, he had to sell off his $500 stereo equipment fo r women 's associations that the delicacies had been prepared. The sisters are
$ 150 to make his first purchase of marijuana. He entrusted the money to Gre- African, but they have fair complexions and "good," curly-straight hair. T hey
gory, who lost it while gambling. Gregory was not as yet the committed kept up a lively conversation with Stanley, chiding him about not visiting
Rastafari he is now. them for so long and wondering whether he was as true to the Rastafari faith
Today, Vim supplies food , clothing, and sometimes shelter for his associ- as he claimed. He answered with quotations from the Scriptures and his own
ates, and has been fortunate so far in avoiding further arrests. A police corpo- jokes at their expense. Their witticisms and choice of expressions, or their
ral lives close to the block , but according to Vim , he became a policeman English generally, were distinctive. Evide ntly, the sisters belonged to a latter-
through passing exams and not from rising up through the ranks: he contents day emergent African leadership class, the same which had produced
himself with little jokes at Vim's expense. His wife, however, exploits her po- Trinidad's prime minister and the various luminaries of the court. the profes-
sition as a policeman's wife whenever she can: her latest usage of it was to sions, and the civil service who ruled the country today.
seize fourteen of Vim 's chickens, in the knowledge that he would grumble but If one looks past the kitchen into the living room, there is a faded picture
do no more. on a table with artificial flowers in a vase, of a young man wearing bac-
Vim's associates are content and hope that the block will soon specialize in calaureate cap and gown . The young man had fought for Britain in World War
5-bags , 10-pieces, and ounces. Gregory, whose fathe r is dead and whose II and had died on a combat mission with the Royal Air Force . T he picture
oo Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Or&t.mi:.atimzal Underpinnings 61

adds to the story of this household. The sisters, deprived by fate of their main By 1956, he was being supervised by a probation officer after he had been
avenue to the local bourgeoisie, one which they had prepared with love and caught stealing and soon after, on account of a second offense, was sent to the
by their personal sacrifice of savings and luxuries, had persevered by teach- Boys· Industrial Home, a correctional facility for youthful offenders, where
ing in primary school. In retirement, they gave cooking and sewing lessons, he was taught tailoring . For a several years afterward, he practiced that trade
and with two friends, an Indian divorcee and an unmarried middle-aged at men's clothing shops in San Fernando.
African woman, had started the small neighborhood business as a shield Stanley is a skillful manipulator of persons, especially when they are
against inf1ation and the high cost of living. They are genuinely fond of Stan- young, impressionable, and insecure. He has the patience and the insight of a
ley because he insists upon his dignity as an African and approve of the Rasta- professional analyst, and manages to help a person articulate her or his prob-
fari on account of him. It is a dignity which their lives had helped to build. lems while making himself indispensable to the solution of them. Apparently,
The sisters' house indicates the kind of neighborhood out of which Stan- he has scored his chief successes in counseling with young women, two of
ley operates. It started out as an enclave of poor but respectable and tremen- whom have borne him sons. But he had been Cindy's sweetheart since 1964.
dously ambitious African and Indian residents: their houses, some of them when he had joined the Prince Alfred Street lime. and he would later father
falling into serious disrepair, with pianos and stuffed furniture, remain as her three sons. In 1965, Stanley was already a San Femandian spokesman for
monuments to that status. Then. as sons and daughters who did not die in the the Youth Power Organization , which had formed principally around the is-
RAF moved their families out, the bereft and the nonachievers were left be- sue of unemployment. From 1965 to 1969, he was one of the organizers of a
hind , and the area was settled by a fresh wave of families , this time laborers, commune in the Waller Field area of north-central Trinidad ; and , because of
the self-employed , and the unemployed. his indefatigable aplomb, talked some governme nt officials into donating the
Stanley enjoys the same relationship of loyalty and support with the neigh- use of land-moving equipment. fertilizers , insecticides, seeds, and expert ad-
borhood generally as with the sisters. Since it had been his neighborhood vice. The commune cultivated tomatoes and herded goats. On weekends,
from childhood , he is known to the older residents as well as to the newcom- Stanley visited the Prince Alfred Street lime in San Fernando to court Cindy.
ers. One of the latter, a carpenter, and a group of them, all self-employed Gradually, members went out on visits and did not return to the commune;
Rastafari leather workers , receive commissions from him . Stanley was incor- Stanley, who always finds himself in charge of finance and who always finds
porated from childhood in the local lime, which has all but vanished. Stanley difficulties with the job, left on account of a quarrel related to the sale of the
learned to use and sell marijuana on the Prince Alfred Street lime where goats, their last valuable asset. Subsequently, Stanley was very active during
Cindy, his wife, used to live, and which was the lime of Vim, Ras Chari, and the Black Power rebellion in 1970: he participated at all the major demon-
many others. strations and ran the gauntlet of police batons at the famous rally on Freder-
The local lime had been very exclusive. It had a large proportion of "red- ick Street in Port-of-Spain. He was among the many arrested for distributing
skinned" adolescents , like Stanley himself; exulting in their fair skin and "su- literature "subversive to the public order" and was detained at Nelson Island ,
perior" status, they had little intercourse with the other limes in the city. In- an offshore penal institution. On his return, he moved in with Cindy and to-
deed , they had a reputation for being "very aggressive" on Saturday gether they organized a block at Lord Street Com er. At the height of the re-
mornings, when members from various limes would jostle on High Street, to bellion , marijuana was smoked openly on this block, which is in the busiest
steal from stores and pick pockets, and at parties and dances . Most of them part of San Fernando, in deliberate defiance of the police.
have left the neighborhood, some migrating abroad. After 1970, Stanley inherited the block Hogarth had started in Short Street.
Stanley 's mother and aunt, who raised him, had a tarnished respectability It was to become the biggest, fastest block until it was finally broken down in
in the neighborhood. An upper-class status attached to them on account of 1978, after repeated police assaults. The spectacular success of this block was
their color (they are phenotypically white), because they were comfortably entirely Stanley's doing. By 1975 , he had converted to Rastafari, and his
off, and because they traveled frequently to New York, but no one knew their tenure of the block coincided with his own personal process of "going dread."
exact circumstances. Stanley does not remember his father and during his Being a man extremely talented in the field of person and situation manipu-
childhood was half-indulged , half-neglected. He dropped out of school when lation , and being also shrewd, endowed with gifts for drama and effect, he
he was eleven (1955) and had reached the exhibition class (when exams are displayed this process in public, provoking reactions in all those associated
taken for the government exhibitions, or scholarships to secondary schools). with him .
62 Chapter 3 Economic and Sorial-Organhational Underpinnings 63

The block was located in a neighborhood which had traditionally sheltered where his closest friends from the old Prince Alfred Street lime could meet
retired workers, sex workers, and criminals. One woman maintained a func- him more privatel y in the evenings. Coincidentally, it was located on the very
tional home with remi ttances from her husband in America. Stanley won her spot where a licensed opium and marijuana dealer had sold drugs until 19 14:
trust so completely that she offered shelter to any transient recommended by Stanley is a man of contrary moods and motives . Sometimes he used to s1t
the block At length , when her husband discontinued his support, Stanley con- on a stoop behind his branch block. talking to a few frie nds about Jah Rasta-
tributed the money for the upkeep of the household. When jewelry and "hot" fari. about what "dreadness" and ''going forward" meant , dreaming about a
ite ms, like shipments of denim jeans , T-shirts . or electrical appliances were future in which, comfortably off, he would de vote all his time to worship. In
received as payment for marijuana or in exchange for marijuana earnings - the moonlight, he looked like the image of those ancient North African
again , a policy adopted by Stanley more than other block leaders - persons in traders , Phoenicians and later Muslims, fired by religious zeal and business
the neighborhood received ite ms free of charge. A bicycle was purchased for acumen, whose trading networks had spanned the world as it was known in
a disabled seaman's child. Stanley even gained help from a wealthy Chinese those ages. On the other hand, he has proven himself on occasion to be more
businessman who had made a parking lot on the street for his shops on nearby avaricious, more obsessed by the immediate dollar, than any other Rastafari
High Street. He showed Stanley places in the lot where he could hide mari- marijuana distributor in San Fernando. The trait has won him many detrac-
juana , and promised to assure the police that his parking lot was unmolested tors, even among those who admire him for hi s obvious strengths.
by block members -a ploy to draw attention away from the block's mari- All the personnel at the courthouse in San Fernando know Stanley -
juana sales. lawyers, magistrates. warrant clerks, court clerks, welfare officers-and
Stanley also experimented with methods of presenting marijuana to the pub- many of them admire his spunk . He marches into business places to solicit fi-
lic. In 1975, he was selling huge joints wrapped in pink papers; distributors in nancial assistance for his various schemes, acquiring notoriety if not capital.
nongrowing country areas (such as Raw Deal: see chapter 2) resold them as In one case, he seriously embarrassed a San Fernandi an businessman, a self-
two joints at home. Stanley also smoked from a chalice (a local water- styled mystic and devotee of Eastern religions, whom he had approached for
pipe, made with a coconut , hard wood, and rubber) to share marijuana and help to fight a constitutional case over the ri ght to wear dreadlocks: the busi-
promote communal usc on his block. nessman is long-haired. He makes it a point to pay regular visits to the elected
Stanley has "belly" (courage), a qualification which attracts many admir- parliamentary representative for this part of San Fernando, an old schoolmate
ers. A very tiny man who bears in fact a remarkable resemblance to the Em- of his .
peror, Haile Selassi-I , he wanders all over San Fernando, when there are no The police do not like him at all. He has been arrested on fi ve occasions
bench warrants for his arrest, detaining a preacher. a teacher, or a nurse-any since January \ 976- for escaping custody. for assault, and for marijuana pos-
"hypocrite" - in the midst of Saturday shopping, and lecturing the victi m on session and sales . It is allegedly on account of his prior attachment to them
Jah Rastafari, probing their bel iefs, and holding them up to ridicule. When his that the Short Street block and its branch were finally destroyed in 1978. To
dramatic gestures and outrageous sallies have attracted a suffic iently large raze the building thoroughly, the police pressured the mayor to authorize
crowd, he launches into a massive, many-sided attack on bourgeois institu- demolition of all buildings in the vicinity where block members might find
tions, or Babylon. Stanley is a marvelous speaker: his jokes, his quotations shelter. On another occasion , he and seven other Rastafari were shackled and
from the Scriptures, his cornering of an opponent for a barrage of abuse and manhandled by six policemen and shorn of their dreadlocks. Stanley claimed
instruction arc rapidly and crisply orchestrated. His voice shifts from satirical that the sacrilege " di soriented" him and that he was brought ''close to mad-
tones of affected Jamaican (Rastafari) dialect to those of Trinidadian ribaldry ness and schi zophrenia" when he saw his dreadlocks, "the color and fu llness
as he weaves argume nts together. of golden herb," lyi ng on the ground. It is one of his best stories, and while it
As he moved from Black Power, took stock of the debacle of 1970 , and is embellished anew at each telling, there remains in it earnestness and sin-
struggled toward conversion to Rastafari, he took along on the quest all the cerity, which carry over into his analyses of the brutal hypocrisies of neo-
young people who came in close contact with him . By 1975, the block had be- colonial society, for which the story had acted as a springboard.
come the meeting place for calypsonians, musicians, artists , and performers Stanley retaliates against the police by making daring escapes from squad cars.
drawn from the many Caribbean islands, some returning from abroad, students He has friends among the warrant officers, who will pretend not to have seen
of all ages, and workers. Stanley operated a branch block not too far away, him at large when there are outstanding bench warrants for his arrest. For the

'
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 64 Chapter 3 F:conomic ami Social-Orxani;:ationa/ Underpinnings 65

dreadlocks-shearing incident , he has filed a constitutional case to argue that In 1977 . Jeru was one of Stanley's associates on the block. together with
his civil rights had been violated. Meanwhile he tries to convince more peo- Bunuel, Kenrick. Andy, Dense, and Richie . Stanley had worked out a system
ple that the Rastafari are not unkempt hooligans but serious practioners of by which an amount of marijuana was given to each young man on request.
their religious beliefs. at a price worked out to please both Stanley and the particular young man.
Cindy's three sons are a considerable asset to him in gaining public goodwill. The latter was also supplied with cigarette papers to make joints. In fixing the
These children are very beautiful , lively, alert, intelligent, well-groomed , and price, he would have estimated a surplus for his own use and for his cash
captivating . No sooner does a young woman smile in their direction than Stan- needs . Stanley was thus able to accumulate a steady suppl y of cash daily, in
ley present-; himself, shoving a sweet-smelling child into the delighted woman's s ufficientl y large quantities to take advantage of bargains when buying mari-
anns. and beginning to lecture why it is essential to these children 's future that juana wholesale in the countryside . In this manne r, savings of over $6 ,000
he be Rastafari. The children's welfare nurse, a middle-aged, middle-class Ja- were accumulated by August 1977. Jeru's father, claiming that he was acting
maican woman who visits the children at home once a week, has declared that on his son's behalf, wanted the money to be either redistributed or banked in
there is no other gentleman in San Fernando but Stanley! Graduating schoolgirls a joint account in a safe deposit box.
(eighteen to nineteen years of age) help Stanley to sell marijuana and take care Stanley resented the interference. He complained that he had all sorts of
of household duties while he attends to his business. Since Cindy is as indepen- plans: there was acreage outside San Fernando where he had persuaded
dent as Stanley and lazy to boot, Stanley often finds himself responsible for all Dense to build a hut near the one he had already constructed; he was hoping
the cooking, washing, and baby-sitting in the household , so that these services to bring this land under culti vation . He had already started a herd of goats
rendered by the female public must figure as economically significant services. with three ewes. a ram, and a few kids. Richie and Cindy were allotted funds
It is rumored that Stanley has accumulated a lot of money during his ten to build coops (vending stalls), which were to be stationed at the Library Cor-
years of selling marijuana. His own intense interest in money has always made ner, to sell app les, grapes , and vegetarian Rastafari food for the coming
for difficult relations between himself and those who work with hi m. As are- Christmas season , when thousands of shoppers saturate that area. He needed
sult his block is unique in its high turnover of personnel . Stanley has mentored money to buy more goats from the interisland boats arriving from Grenada
several young men - Jeru , Dense, Richie , David, Andy, Kenrick, Joseph - as and to buy fruit and vegetables from the wholesalers; he needed money on
they established themselves in the marijuana trade and as Rastafari; but all hand in case of arrest and to pay lawyers' fees for his upcoming constitutional
have discontinued the business association wi th him after only a short period case , which he was confident he would wi n. He was interested in traveling to
of time. The complaint is universal: they will support Stanley in all his en- Tobago to establish a branch or a trade connection, since cigarette papers and
deavors, and continue to look to him for advice and instruction , but they pre- marijuana fetched much higher prices in all the smaller islands , where
fer not to work with him . Beyond the obligatory redemption of legal dues and Trinidadian Rastafari were beginning to introduce marijuana and Rastafari.
s upply of food , Stanley is impossibly reluctant to part with money, and he is Cindy and the children were also planning another trip to New York: there,
quick to answer any query concerning redistribution by saying that children she would sell marijuana for greater profits in U.S . dollars and buy karate
are the first priority and that his had consumed the money in question . shoes, jumpsuits, T-shirts, and materia ls for making incense sticks, which she
For exam ple , it was a quarrel betwee n Stanley and Jeru 's father which would ship to Trin idad for retail , agai n for substantial profits .
caused Stanley to withdraw from the Short Street block. The father is a Wa- But Stanley was principally upset because. when it was a matter of money,
ter and Sewage Authority employee, and in 1970, when Stanley was selling he never liked to give accurate accounts: he does not say how much he paid
marijuana at Lord Street, had operated his own block , together with Argyll in the country for marijuana; he does not like to dwe ll on the financial details
and Sabinus, at the Library Come r. These blocks were closely allied, si nce all of his various schemes. Then there are expenses such as the children's forth-
the members had originated from the same Prince Alfred Street lime and had coming trip or hi s eldest son's bicycle, imported from the United States ,
branched out from Ras Chari's block there. The Library Comer block was which he has to defend constantly. He likes quoting Malcolm X: "If it's not
abandoned within a few months. Its three owners had conceived it largely for for the children, who the hell is it for?"
political reasons: they wanted San Femandians to smoke marijuana openly in Provoked in this case, he retaliated by handing over the $6,000 to Jeru' s fa-
the heart of the city. The location, however, proved to be too conspicuous and ther and signing as one of the owners of a joint bank account; but disbanded
ill-protected to serve permanently as a block. the block by leaving each associate to buy and sell on his own. The outcome
66 Chapter 3 F.conomic and Social-Organi;:atiollalllnderpinnings 67

was immediate: supplies of marijuana became irregular, and the block was From an early age , Bott had been an innovator in his neighborhood lime .
unable to keep payments and favors flowing smoothly to the neighborhood . Big built and imposing in a slow, amiable way, he persuaded three others,
The old woman whose house they used and who cooked for them closed her while still in primary school. to join him in making kites for sale to more priv-
doors. Stanley re mained as one ind ividual buyer and seller among the several ileged classmates. In those days, kite Hying was a cutthroat competition: a
who came and went until November 1977, then left altogether. to join Richie. well-made kite would have ground glass glued into its bows and frill s. Other
Cindy, Dense, and David at the Library Corner coops . Jeru, Bunuel, and Ken- weapons. like razor blades. were sewn into its long tail. Thus armed , a kite
rick were left wi th the task of reorganizing the block. but the police smashed could attack other kites wh ilc in flight. e ither ripping them to shreds or cut-
the house which sheltered it in May 1978. Today. Richie and a few other ting them loose. During the Christmas celebrations, Bott and hi s little com-
youngsters still spend some of their time there, but they never have more than pany made imitation Christmas trees, using a discarded broomstick for the
a few joints to sell. trunk. and for branches. wire models on which closely cropped green stream-
Stanley withdrew to his grandmother's neighborhood to live . He started a ers were stuck. They also made toy trucks from scraps of wood, using d is-
block at hi s grandmother's house and continued to manage the coops at the carded thread bobbins for wheels. The toys fetched a good income for the
Library Corner until they were pulled down by the po lice in February 1978. four boys.
Finally, he was left only w ith the block near his grandmothe r's house. His as- As a teenager in the early I 970s, Bon worked as an associate with Mistry,
sociates -David, Richie, Dina , Betty, Jessica, and Assata - sell in the neigh- a fellow limer who had formed a block on Coffee Street. lt was a part-time
borhood. Cindy, of course, continued to sell marijuana herself at the house : association during which Bott held other menial jobs. Finally, in 1976, with
she made her trip to New York late in 1978. The trip to Tobago was made, help from Mistry, Bott invested his savings in a block. He had already joined
with David and Dina . Relationships are brittle with all of these associates on Rastafari and was preaching his grandfather's message of an African exodus
account of Stanley's worsening stinginess. The young women in particular re- from the city to return to the land.
ceived little benefit from the services they re ndered, other than marijuana for From the beginning , Bott tried to make sure that the associates on his block
personal use and the promise of protection in case of arrest. were as directly involved in the profit sharing as himself. Each of them - Ras
Stanley is a transitional type in the consolidation of Rastafari in San Fer- Iron, Buen Retiro, Prince, Boyee. Haji - received marijuana at discounted
nando. Others like Vim , Botts, or Matos are younger, more scrupulous, and rates from him to sell on the block. Each Rastafari followed his own initiative
more principled in all their transactions, especially fi nancial ones. At the to do so. Protits were then recollected in the form of an esusu (an informal
same time, they have profited from Stanley's struggles as a Rastafari. Stanley credit union), each member being obliged, on risk of forfeiture of former con-
has not become the kind of inspired Rastafari prophet Port-of-Spain boasts, tributions, to pay weekly dues on the date specified. He even brought four
whose charisma is overwhelming: he is recognized to be pragmatic and level- middle-aged heads of households in the housing scheme into the esusu: being
headed even in devotion . But these unresolved contlicts in the man show the government employees, respectable, and e lders , they added seriousness and
lines along which resolutions to conflicts must be made in the mo vement as discipline to the effort. They could also bank money legitimately. The move
a whole. won further neighborhood support for these Rastafari.
The esusu has so far afforded cars for Bott, Prince, and Boyee , which are
used as taxis to enhance the ir profitability. For the sum Bott raised toward
Bott's Block
their cars, Prince and Boyee have been obliged to make additional weekly re-
Batt's block is situated in a government housing project of some forty-two payments out of their taxi fares; but the money is needed fo r the capital they
apartments on Rushworth Street which dates back to the 1950s and where are currently accumulating to buy land and material for a house. So far, only
low-income families have had a long tenure. Bott's father was a respected, if Buen Retiro. the handsome womani zer of the group , has forfe ited once and
spendthrift , civil servant. His grandfathe r, who also lived with the family, had was forgiven the penalty •
won even greater renown as a neighborhood scholar and expert in African Bott has used esusu funds to buy five acres in the countryside near Moruga
history. He now lives on land he has acquired near Chaguanas, in central in southern Trin idad where there are many derelict cocoa estates. In February
Trinidad, and advocates African reclamation of the land. Bott claims him as 1979, he bought a Mazda pickup, which he painted green, gold, and red
the most influential person in his life. (Rastafari colors) , to be used for transport in developing the land.
68 Chapter 3 Economic and Sociai-Orr;anizarional Unde rpinnings 69

The block continued to operate prosperously in 1979. Bott has recently se- much like Bott's, has been recently started among them; and the two you ngest
cured contacts to export marijuana to the United States in exchange for U.S. members, orphaned by their natural parents , live with Jerry in Cocoyea .
currency and goods. Matos regularly finds new opportunities to make money. For example, dur-
ing the Carnival, he set up a booth with a bank of blenders to make banana
punches, peanut punches , sea-moss and soursop drinks, and a variety of veg-
Matos's Block
etarian savories and sweetmeats. He claims that the booth made over $ 10.000
Matos's block also deserves special mention. The son of an Indian market during the season. He also has entered the import-export business. He com-
vendor and nephew of another, the young man was early apprenticed to buy- missioned Doc to make carvings, each capable of concealing two pounds of
ing and selling vegetable produce. At the same time, as the son of an African marijuana, which he has twice taken successfully to London. His Rastafari
handyman, he was incorporated in a wide network of African kin. He was yet girlfriend there knits him unusually designed tam-o' -shanters and buys mate-
another member of the Prince Alfred Street lime, and was introduced to mar- rials for making incense, pictures and clip-ons of the Emperor, clothes , and
ijuana smoking there while in his early youth. shoes which he carries to Trinidad to sell. His last expedition ended in a bust
By 1974 to 1975, he had established his own block. with some encouragement at Heathrow Airport in London, but , undeterred, he now has larger plans fo r
from Darius, with whom he still enjoys cordial relations. Kip, Busy, Doc, and a London-New York-Trinidad linkup.
Carey have remained his closest associates from the start. Buen Retiro has a Recently, Matos bought a van from the post office . In excellent condition,
close business relation with him too, although he has stronger ties with Botts. it is a big help in all his lines of business. He has set aside a sum of money to
Matos runs his marijuana operations quite separately from all others. He purchase land adjoining another Rastafari's in Toco, on Trinidad's north
makes marijuana available to his associates at preferential rates and has urged coast. He has $20,000 in hand to begin a Rastafari newspaper with Jerry. In
both Kip and Busy to use their profits to set up coops and gardens, which they 1978, he invested another $20,000 to sponsor a tour by the famous reggae
have done. His own profits he invests in his market stalls, where other Rasta- singer Peter Tosh. The shows drew attendances of more than 17,000 in S an
fari block members work. Fernando and Port-of-Spain. Buoyed by this success , he is preparing to spon-
Now that his mother and aunt are old and retired, Matos has plowed his prof- sor shows by other Rastafari star artistes.
its into building their market stalls into a quite sensational phenomenon in the
San Fernando General Market! First, he acquired two more stalls, so that with
Darius's Block
the two belonging to his brother-Jerry, a block leader in Cocoyea, at the south-
ern outskirts of San Fernando-a section of the market, comprising six stalls, is Darius's block also demands special treatment. Located several miles outside
militantly Rastafari. Matos and Jerry work long hours in Port-of-Spain and in the of San Fernando, it magnified some of the features of organization. Darius is
countryside, winning bargains from planters and shippers from the smaller is- the dealer-grower-block leader introduced in chapter 2. His financial invest-
lands, in bulk purchases of potatoes, onions, fresh vegetables and fruits, hill rice, ments , as well as his professed beliefs and personal trustworthiness , are the
pigeon peas, spices, beans, sea-moss, and homemade drinking chocolate or other cement binding his six subsidiaries to him: in turn, they are a guaranteed out-
agricultural produce. The stalls are piled high with provisions for the big market let for his marijuana. Since he deals in bulk quantities, the preferential rates
days on Saturdays and Sundays, and they are routinely offered at slightly lower at which Darius sells to his subs idiaries are more noticeable than the smaller
prices than those prevailing elsewhere in the market. Consequently, huge crowds percentages on the average block or between cooperating blocks (for exam-
of shoppers of all ages mill around the stalls, under the Emperor's many por- ple in 1979, he charged $ 125 per pound instead of the usual $200 to $250).
traits, in the sweet smell of devotional incense, with reggae music blasting from Also, Darius sells fi rst to his subsidiaries -an inestimable advantage in times
the high-quality speakers of a sound system. Matos, his brother, and six associ- of scarcity.
ates attend to them in a blur of many busy hands, sloganeering- "Food for the Although Rastafari does not serve as an additional bond between Darius and
People"- quoting Rastafari aphorisms, and distributing handbills with Rastafari his associates, they have been affected by it. The group does not live together~
messages and advertisement~. and they are each too prosperous to have to depend on one another for bail- but
The market stalls are run like block endeavors. Associates receive provi- they do meet to arrive at common sentiments and ideas . The group approves of
sions daily, plus a weekly cash payment and marijuana for smoking. An esusu, the Rastafari religiosity and its emphasis on "natural" living: like the Rastafari
 Chapter 3 Economic and Social-Organizational Underpinn ings 71
70

they explore disciplines and practices such as yoga, holistic health, diet, and the scarce. it was green marijuana I sell to make my fi rs/ $700. It was a time like this, a
ll'eek before Camival. People just wanted it and dey tell derself' well. once is mari-
cultivatio n of marijuana. These interests have confirmed Darius in his traditional
juana. dm good. dey buyin ' it. So 1 made my first $700. Dat was fou r years af:O
Hinduism. which he interprets with a new. Rastafari-infiuenced enthusiasm. ( /974- 75). De same Jaguar. ... The Jaguar contribute to dar $700 too. Yeah. So I
Thus, he has performed regular pujas (devotional prayers and offerings to the tell myself. d('.1·e same ft'/las 11·h o huv dis $700, dey c:omillJ: bark .for more a~:ain, and
various Hindu deities) since becoming a marijuana distributor. ll'here I J:O Ret it .from'!
Another bond is Darius's restless ambition to find a way to turn his wealth So I sar leh me make an investme11t and eve11 if I make a piece of lnead on dat ill-
to socially significant e nds. For example , he wants to make a featu re film of vestment, 1 still making somethi11 'for mvse/f And 1 could always go hack and plant.
the Pullul Brothers, a group of notorious Indian bad johns who were based in So I starred huyin '. In dose dars, gw~ja was selling at IT$300 a pound. So 1 /mv
22 potm 's, and de man tru.1·t me another poun '. Ev<•nuwlly I made a profit r~{aholll
the countryside rather than the city and whose li ves and exploits illuminate
$50 per fHIL/11 '. And it gie me a sort (J/ i11centive to inv<~st more money. And while I
the harsh real ities of Indian life in rural Trinidad. Another idea is the revival inveuin' dat monev. I start to plant. so dar I even had more money lo invesl.
of folk theater and cultural activity, such as Indian dan ce and singing. in Pi- "/had planted only one task of marijuana ( 1/R- 1!10 of an ar:re) really didn't know
para and in his associates' vi llages and neighborhoods. He knows himself to de real whereabouts r!flww to cultivate it, because. before !began, people use to say:
be a single link between many marijuana growers in the coun try and block dis is de hardest ting to grow. de hardest ring, man; you just cyan/ t: mw dis. you have
leaders in the city: a powerful influential link between two sources of e nor- to be a God-g(fled man to grow dis ting 8 111 I got seed.~ while buyin'. And 1 started
mous value, manpower, and creative energies. But while he is tantalized by to plant. You know. I believe mar(iuana i.~ a prime necessity to man, 1 will alwavs
keep on plantin', plantin·. plantin '.
the fact, he does not q uite know how to further it or to profit other than fi -
t:vellfually. I realize dat while I plantin 'fella.l· coming to me here to huy and dat it
nanc iall y by it. The awareness, however, is enou gh to put a distinguishing 11'a.1· more worth my while to sell rather dan plant. So 1 Jtarted huyin ' and sellin '. And
mark upon hi s entire group . 1 started to see money. Money dat people in a lifetime cyant save. Sometime.\· the
In tum , Darius has hastened the process of block fo rmation among the city money 1 make for a month it takes a man a whole life to save. Owin ' to de good rep·
blocks by ensuring regular supplies to beginners and by acting as stockpiler utation I have- 1..,·hen I say reputation, I mean my behal'ior. my dealin 's. my princi-
against times of scarcity. He was eager to tell his own story, from which the ples, my policies mul so fo rth-people tend to believe in me. I have pleflly plamers
following ex tracts are take n: dealin ' with me and ~·ince they ccmld nut meet my demands, fo r frequency and qual-
ity because I wanted someting for a honmin' block, to make• it more faster- / en-
courage people to go into plmztin' it. and bring in· it de way I wamed it.
Marijuana ha.1· uplifted the unemployment problem here in dis coumry. You know 1 could tell you about anybody you want to know about in San Fernando. Anybody.
people could rink of ~·endin ' their children to study medicine b ecau~·e (~f'ganja. Busi- Because all ah dern deal witlz me at some time or another. And some of dem I even
ness houses, car .firms, constru ction industry-all of dem make a lot c~f money he- starr off on dey bloch . So any thing you want to know, 1 could tell you. The Jaguar.
cause of ganja. Dey had people who just five yean ago had no money, were poor. Stanley, Matos, Kenrick. Peaches. Botts, Baraka, Simba . .. anybody!
didn 'r know 11'$/ ,000. And now dese same people have accumulated any where near But when / first start off on de city blocks, is good licks I get. Is not dat you advance
to IT$200,000 or $300,000. Dis has made them upliji deir standard of living: dey a portion (!f'ganja and den don 't get anyting hack fo r it. /.1· character I does lookj(lr
have built pretty houses, fumished dem, educmed deir children. in a man. you knm~: Hardcnre men, dat is what I does lookj(Jr. So what I really don't
About six years ago, I was a dropout from high school and so forth. Dar was de like is de run around and de talk. So in de end is with only a few adem dat / stay good.
Curepe t:ducational Institute; and ajienmrds I did draft in ' j(Jr three years at the Some alz dem do<'.~ he shame to come to me now: .w when times hard. like now, dey
Jolm Donaldson Technical Institute in Port-of-Spain. I got a diploma from dat does send for de ganja. See Matos now: he is a sound fella. He and Botts .. .
course. But I was de type of person who didn't like to work for no one. 1 had dat kind One ting I appreciate in de Rastafari is de religiou.1'}'eeling you kno11: Dar is.from
of mentality, dat kind of consciousness in me dat make me believe that I could mnke those who really hove it. To be careful how you do thing~. what rou eat ... I sight
m v two ends meet. So 1 tell mvself- we/1, I leave my~·elf alone and I didn 't want to up dar religious form too, you know. I is a 1•ery religious man: a Hi11du. and nobody
w~1rk for nobody- / come up in de country by my relatives and stay here. I started could take it away. I always do a puja. to give praises.
do in· a little gardening and so on, for ahnut three years.
Meantime, 1 been hearin' about marijuana all over de place, dat people makin' a Finally, Darius's block looms large over the entire San Fernando network,
good raise, and I was interested in takin ' part in it, not knowing that one day 1 would be without dominating the other blocks. While Darius can be relied upon to have
nne ah de top-rankin ' ganja men in de country today. I didn't know dat. 1 didn't even
marijuana to sell most of the time, the option of city block leaders to buy else-
use tn smoke den.
So I srarted plantin ' mar~juana and I would neve rfo r~:et . . . it was one Carnival
where, or to make their private arrangements with planters, has not been
season when l make de first IT$700 in ganja. Tings were so tough, the ting was sn threatened.
72 Chapter 3 Economic and Sociuf-()rf?arli:;ational Underpinning~ 73

INTERBLOCK RELATIONS Doc, and Ramses, a San Fernandian who had begun cultivating marijuana
near Toco, approached the police and offered to find the criminal, if he was
The distinctiveness of the various blocks was translated into the quality of indeed Rastafari. This group then agreed to mee t regularly as the " the Inner
the marijuana they sold. Customers got a fl avor, so to speak, of the differ- Circle of Rastafari." Members made friendl y visits in their cars throughout
ent block leaders and the ideologies they represented in the marijuana they the day among their several selling locations, and Botts and Matos emerged
consumed. In 197X, there were 110 blocks in San Fernando. On most as its primi inter pares.
blocks, one pound of marijuana could be sold in one and a half to two days: Stanley was very suspicious of the Inner Circle. Blocks inspired or influ-
thus in the San Fernando area, some 20,000 pounds (exc luding exports) enced by him - Jeru, Joseph. Robes, Simba, Henry and his wife. and about
were sold yearly. If the price paid to the planter per pound was that during nine other blocks -felt themselves, in some imprecise way, to be the "other"
fieldwork - TT$275 -and if the yield in joints was estimated at I ,000, sell- to the Inner Circle and its friends. They did not, however, combine into a for-
ing at $1 each, then each pound of marijuana generated about $1 ,275 in rev- mal organization. Members from the two opposed camps were cool about
enue. The traffic in San Fernando, therefore, amounted to a business worth each other's protestations of Rastafari orthodoxy. One heated discussion be-
about $25.5 million yearl y. tween Stanley and Buen Retire , over tickets to Matos's Peter Tosh concert,
This figure remained. of course, an estimate. The number of blocks fluctu - ended with Stanley being slapped in the face-a polarizing event. When
ated seasonally. Locations handled a greater or smaller volume of trade, in a Cindy and Richie constructed their apple and food coop at the Library Cor-
shorter or longer period; the price per pound varied seasonally or according ner for the 1976 Christmas season, Kuper. Bott's brother, promptly installed
to quality, or according to a variety of supply conditions, such as police op- one beside theirs , selling apples and Rastafari religious items. Both coops
erations; and a pound of marijuana was very often resold in the city by the were tom down by the police in 1977. But in Stanley's ''camp" there is no ev-
pound, half-pound, ounce, 20-piece, H>-piece, 5-bag, or 3-bag rather than by idence whatever of interblock financial cooperation, beyond the preferential
the joint, yielding in each case less than $ 1,000. Additionally, a portion of rates for marijuana Stanley occasionally offered.
each pound was usually reserved by the block leader and his associates for Vim was also cool toward Botts and Matos. He felt strong moral objec-
their personal use. tions to Botts' s cars being used to transport high school girls after schools
Some 500 persons, mostl y male. in the San Fernando area derived their were out in the afternoons. He thought that Matos especially was unimagi-
yearly incomes from this $25 million. Dependent upon the m-and involved native , a mere copycat of Jamaican fashions , rather than a Rastafari by his
in varying degrees with the traffic-were several women, children, or other own privately produced convictions. Vim's influence extended throughout
relatives. the Cocoyea area and into Pleasantville , where several blocks met fort-
Most of the personnel on these II 0 blocks were known to one another. nightly to share in a feast of worship to Jah. Vim did not attend these meet-
Neighborhoods such as the one described earlier had produced many blocks: ings because they roasted meat for the ceremony, but he exchanged visits
so that kinship ties and those of friendship from early childhood were a fea- with them on other occasions , and had persuaded them to begin two veg-
ture of interblock relations. But the blocks were not associated in any formal etable gardens. Stanley and his "grouping" also objected to the ceremonial
sense. Blocks cooperated by the twos or threes to do specific things: making meat-eating and had no contact with these brothers. Another purely vegetar-
a purchasing trip together, lending money for baiL and in one case, to finance ian feast was celebrated weekly by assembled blocks in the Marabella area ,
the escape abroad of a brother who faced a seven-year sentence on an assault to the north of San Fernando and abutting the oil refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre.
charge. Few blocks except Darius 's had reserve stocks of marijuana large At the time of writing in 1978 and 1979, the 110 blocks and the pathways
enough to assist another by supplying them in a time of scarcity. between them , criss-crossed by rivalries and friendships , had made a substan-
In December 1976, an infant girl was molested in a lavatory of a well- tial addition to San Fernando's cartography. The space , marked apart even
known primary school in San Fernando by someone whom the newspapers more vividly by Rastafari taboos and conventions, took on the aspect of a sep-
described as a "cleanshaven man who looked like a Rasta type" (as " Rasta arate, self-sufficient, independently functioning life or nation, existing in the
types" are always hirsute, or resistant to barbers, the description made no heart of San Fernando. Marijuana smokers had learned its layout, and they as-
sense). In response to the growing hysteria about Rastafari , of which the press sociated different types of marijuana and marijuana experiences with the con-
report was only the latest example, Botts, Matos, his brother Jerry, Singham, stituent blocks.
74 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
This sentiment of a separate nation was one which the Rastafari ideology
best expressed. Religion and Ritual
in the Ganja Complex
NOTES

I . Frantz Fanon . Martiniyuan author of The Wretched t~{ the E::arth (Ln /)amm!s de Ia
11.-rre). rcy uired readi ng hy radicals during the 1960s and 1970s.

Econom ic systems tend to be self-perpetuating. As a laboring population in the

informal economic sector (see preface and chapter 8), drug distributors con-
sume some of the product of their labor to reproduce themselves. In the case
of the marijuana economy, participants enjoyed smoking the commodity they
produced on city blocks, and the beliefs and worldview by which they justi-
fied the practice were codified in the Rastafari ideology . 1 The latter repro-
duced the hearts and minds which worked to construct marijuana- the cultural
good , with cultural benefits-and make it available to the wider world.
Additionally, the Rastafari ideology, providing religious sentiments and rit-
ual practices, provided the last remaining requisite clement in the successful
transplantation of the ganja complex in Trinidad.
Simultaneously as blocks were being molded into a distinct form of socio-
economic formation among young, urban , unemployed African youths in
Trinidad, block leaders converted to Rastafari. They were quickly followed by
their associates and customers. The converts grew their hair in long matted
locks by shunning comb and brush, allowed their beards to grow by avoiding
the razor, restricted their diets to vegetarian foods and beverages, and refused
all stimulants except marijuana, the "holy herb." They proclaimed the divinity
of Haile Selassi-l or Jah Rastafari, and believed in the doctrine of redemption
to Ethiopia. These preoccupations excited even the ordinary, nonusing San Fer-
nandian, and Rastafari attracted many staunch sympathizers in low-income
neighborhoods. They created some sinister enemies too (see chapter 5).
Block leaders converted to Rastafari at the same time that the police were
escalating their campaigns against them and the institutions of the marijuana
economy they had created. They saved their most ardent verbal assaults as
Rastafari for police officers (or " the Babylon") and especially for Deputy

J 75
76 Chapter4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 77

Commissioner of Police Randolph Burroughs." A year of tra ining by the Drug A BRIEF HISTORY OF RASTAFARI IN THE CARIBBEAN
Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the United States in methods of the
war on drugs and counterinsurgency had turned him into an indefatigable Jn the 1920s, a self-educated Jamaican scholar, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, or-
hunter of "guerrillas" in the southern rai n forest , where he liked to spend ganized the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA ) in Harlem,
weeks at a time on safari . On returning to Trinidad, he had formed the Flying New York C ity. He preached that a kin g would soon be crowned in Africa
Squad , a group of police marksmen he had pe rsonally selected to accompany who would redeem the lost tribes of Judah and call them home to Ethiopia .
him on these campaigns . They regularly confused Rastafari marij uana grow- He recalled for the impoverished Africans of American c ities that their her-
ers with "guerrillas:· and their ex ploits are reported in chapter 5. inspector itage had included mighty kingdoms in Africa and the accomplishment of
Randolph Pierre , the commander of the southern branch of the Flying Squad , milestones in human evolution. In contrast , Garvey taught , only the lowest in-
has already been introduced by the Jaguar in his recollections in chapter 3. stincts of Europeans were retl ected and cherished in the ''white" c ivil ization
This chapter docu ments how Rastafari beliefs and practices in San Fer- of America which oppressed Africans. Wea lth had only magnified those in-
nando defined themselves in the process of block consolidation and as the stincts , which included greed , tyranny, and genocide. Garvey worked tire-
marijuana economy matured despite (and actuall y in defi ance of) mounting lessly to recruit me mbers in New York City and Chicago for UNIA , and even-
police pressure. The coherence of Rastafari beliefs in Trinidad is sought in the tually enrollmen t reached 40,000. He solic ited donations from the
symbolism of marijuana and the marijuana traffic. Finally, Rastafari is iden- membership and sympathizers and used the proceeds to launch a newspaper
tified as the ideology of an emergent "development" elite of the informal eco- and several businesses. After a decade of organizing and struggle, he was con-
nomic sector which had re placed the Black Power doctrines of the 1970s. victed in 1927 on charges of fi nanc ial wrongdoing and was deported to Ja-
This ideology was differentiated from that of the dominant "modernization" maica, where he immediately resumed sharing his message (Cronan 1955;
e lites (Schneider, Schneider, and Hansen 1972). Edwards 1967; Jacques-Garvey I967).
A review of Rastafari in the Caribbean and in Trinidad is briefly summarized The influence of Marcus Garvey on contemporary African American and
in order to contextualize the steps in the evolution of this be lief system in San Caribbean African thought has still to be fully appreciated . Garvey had in-
Fernando. This chapter, however, is not an exhaustive examination of the be- sisted on economic and cultural self-sufficiency and independence for
liefs and practices of Rastafari . It is not a study of Rastafari primaril y, al though Africans. This position alienated many other African American intellectua ls ,
it does explore a perspective which differs from those usually taken in the lit- who denounced him as a separatist and racist. They later cooperated in his
erature. A study of Rastafari would be incomplete if it did not locate the move- downf all. Programs of concrete self-he lp , however, have been the enduring
ment as a culmination of 400 years of African resistance in the Caribbean , and legacy of Garvey 's ideas - first among American Musl ims , and then among
as a specific response to the contradictions of colonial society in the English- Rastafari. Garvey himself had started several enterprises . A major success
speaking Caribbean (Barrett 1977; Bishton 1986; Campbell 1980; Chevannes was the Black Star Line , a shipping company which owned three ships and
1978; Kitzinger 1966; Lewis 1993; Owens 1976; Simpson 1955; Smith 1960; traded between America , Africa, and the Caribbean. Other successes were his
Taylor and Bogdan 1984; Watson 1973; Plummer 1978). On the other hand , agricultural projects in West Africa. It was on charges of mismanaging them
these classical studies have neglected the mul tiple, nonritual values which mar- that Garvey was convicted and deported from the United States (Cronan
ijuana had for Rastafari. and accordingly they have incomplete ly identified the 1955; Edwards 1967; Jacq ues-Garvey 1963).
political and economic agencies of Rastafari in Caribbean societies. Meanwhile in Africa, as though in response to Garvey's messianic
Finally, from the standpoint of one of the major theses of this book, their prophecy, Ras Tafari was crowned Emperor Haile Selassi-1 in Ethiopia in
most serious omi ssion is any appreciation at all of the cultural transmi ssion 1930. At hi s coronation, he was named the King of Kings, Lord of Lords , and
of the ganja complex across continents, centuries, and ethnic ities. Through Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
the ganja com plex , the Rastaman ("1-man ," dreadlocks , marijuana smoking , Garvey's followers in Jamaica were impressed by the numerous signs of
cultivation and distribution , blocks, ascetic ism, vegetarianism , and all) rein- Haile Se]a<;si-I's divinity. One was the liberation of his kingdom from Italian
carnates not only his African ancestry, but more exactl y than any young In- rule. Soon after his ascent to the throne , Ethiopia had been invaded by Mus-
dian in the Caribbean ,3 an (essentially Saivite) Indian tradition which had solini. The emperor vowed to recapture his land without shedding a drop of
originated 5,000 years before in the Hindu Kush. Ethiopian blood. After conducting a vigorous press campaign (in a famous

j
78 Chapter 4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 79

photograph accompanying his many appeals in the major European newspa- These contemporary Jamaican commentaries and analyses, however, rou-
pers, he was shown standing on an unexploded bomb), he regained his throne tinely overlooked the connections between Rastafari and the marijuana traf-
in 1941 . Other press photographs circulating in Jamaica showed lions roam- fic , regarding usc of the "herb" as something quaint or bizarre (and , of course.
ing free in his palace (Boot and Thomas 1977). illegal) or, more benignly, as a sacramental or folk-medicinal substance (Net-
Garvey's followers also judged that the emperor had fulfilled exactly the tleford 1963; Patterson 1964; Simpson 1955) rather than as a medium of eco-
prophecies of Revelation 5 (verses 2 , 5, 6) and Revelation 19 (verse 19).4 nomic exchange, or as a source and model of indigenous creation of value,
Moreover, they were satisfied that historians had proven that his thro ne was self-sufficiency, and economic survi val in third-world countries. And even in
the oldest in the world and that he was a direct descendant of King Solomon the view of marijuana as a sacramental or folk-medicinal substance, its role
and the Queen of Sheba. Garvey's teachings were accordingly adapted as in the persistence and diffusion of the Asian ganja complex was not recog-
the true form of worship of the one true God , Jah Rastafari. M any of his fol- nized. In the 1960s, however, a turning point in the history of Rastafari was
lowers, regarding him as the founding prophet of the religion, converted, reached when marijuana cultivators in Jamaica mobilized, by expanding pro-
and the religiopolitical movement soon found its niche in the complex duction and introducing innovative smuggling operations, for the growing ex-
melange of ideologies and interests which composed Jamaican social life port market to Europe , Canada, and the United States. Police raids and cor-
(Post 1978). rupt involvement with the traffic intensified, and even politicians used bribes
The number of Rastafari in Jamaica continued to grow, and by 1960 two- of marijuana to win votes. In response, Rastafari elaborated their belief sys-
thirds of the island 's population were thought to be sympathizers, if not ac- tem, adhered more devotedl y to it, and , emboldened by these convictions,
tual followers (Smith, Augier, and Nettleford 1956). Until the 1960s , how- grew more outspoken about the grim political situation on the island, thus
ever, recruitment had proceeded gradually and had been restricted to the penetrating the formal political institutions of the country, and adding them-
Jamaican countryside and the urban ghettos. Rastafari grew fond of land, sub- selves ominously to the climate of crisis which ex isted there.
scribing to the sentiment found in the Old Testament of "everyman dwelling Another turning point came when reggae music was invented.ln it, Rasta-
under his own fig tree and in his own vineyard," and they cultivated vegetable fari musicians, likening themselves to the biblical psalmist David , had
gardens or built communal agricultural settlements wherever they could. In blended Jamaican folk-musical conventions with the rock-and-roll styles of
the urban ghettos, they lived cooperatively in communes and cultivated va- marijuana-smoking metropolitan performers (Hebdige 1987). The musical
cant lots of land in the outskirts of cities. Most revered marijuana and grew expression also celebrated the confidence Rastafari beliefs had gained from
or consumed large amounts of it. Without any central organization or leaders, the emperor's visit to Jamaica in 1965, as well as from the experience of
and with a doctrine infinitely arguable beyond a few fundamental precepts, a practicing them for thirty years. Subsequently reggae music functioned very
variety of orthodoxies and conventions and sects divided them. E ventually effectively as a means for propagating Rastafari ideas on other English-
dogma was derived as much fro m the Bible and Garvey's teachings as from speaking Caribbean islands and in the immigrant communities abroad.
the lessons the brethren distilled from their observations and analyses of cur- The first Rastafari in Trinidad, however, we re not merely imitators of a Ja-
rent events. As Rastafari became more numerous and their message more au- maican fashion. The same breeding ground of colonialism , class conflict,
dible , they attracted the attention of other segments of Jamaican society, such youth rebellion , countercultural lifestyles , marijuana use, and struggle with
as intellectuals, social workers, joumalists , politicians , and the informed pub- the police had existed on both islands (and , indeed , on all Caribbean islands) .
lic at large. For example, a report by the University of the West Indies in 1956 The first Rastaman in San Fernando, or at any rate the first one to grow
was among the first published accounts, and states: dreadlocks was Vim 's brother-in-law, Ras Chari (see chapter 3). A leading
marijuana distributor in the process of becoming a block leader, he had
Some are criminals, others are not. Some wear beards, others wear plaited locks of " locksed up" in 1973 , two or three years before the majority of San Fernando
uncut hair;~ others wear neither beards nor locks. Some brethren seem to live in Rastafari did so. He claimed that he had borrowed the idea for the hairstyle
camps, most live dispersed throughout the city. Most of the brethren are unem-
from a picture of Ndebele tribesmen in an article on Africa in National Ge-
ployed. man y of these for several years ... many brethren are willing to take em-
ployment providing they are not required to shave their hair and heard ... other ographic . He never became an outstanding spokesman of Rastafari beliefs
brethren reject the idea of wage employment but are quite in favor of cooperative and was easily outstripped in this talent by younger followers. Reggae mu-
Rastafari group production (Smith , Augier, and Nettle ford 1956). sic, replacing African American soul and funk as popular music in Trinidad

1
RO Chapter4 Religion and Ritllal in the Ganja Complex 81

only toward 1975~ 1976, confirmed Trinidadian Rastafari in their beliefs but For example, there is easy access to farming and fishing . More substantially, to make
sure that Tobago remains an electoral stronghold, the governi ng party, the People's
did not create them.
National Movement (PNM), has funded the Special Works Program and other relief
programs hand somely.
Among the youths on the island. therefore, the traditions of pimping, petty theft .
RASTAFARI, BLOCK DEVELOPMENT, prostitution. arrests , transitory housing. and homelessness have not penetrated as
AND THE MARIJUANA TRAFFIC deeply as they have in San Fernando or in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. An older ge ner-
ation of kinsmen, landed peasan t pmprietors, government officials. store owners , es-
ln San Fernando, the popularity ofRastafati coincided with the creation of blocks tate owners, and the operators of services for tou rists (hotels, cars. restaurants , and
boats) remain firmly in control , and in everyday life , young Tobagonians are more
rather than with the borrowing of a Jamaican fashion. As noted, the first known
comprehensive ly constrained by them than their Trinidadian counterparts are by
Rastaman in the city was Ras Chari from the Prince Alfred Street block. He had
middle-class , middle-aged adults in Trin idad .
"locksed up" in 1973, but admits that Rastafari then meant little to him. By 1976, At the same time, such benefits are still insufficient to support any of the ambi-
however, the leaders on 108 of 110 San Fernando blocks were Rastafari. as were tions their literacy and education have nourished in young Tobagonian s . The Special
all their associates. Then working-class members of their clientele and other un- Works Prog ram-paving a road one day to break it up again the next-is nakedly
employed persons began ''locksing up." By 1979, at least 1500 had converted.6 meaningless work, a mere token response to unemployment, and pays very little
Rastafari furnished the thematic cues through which individuals were anyway. Being circumscribed by elders who themselves have a limited life. com-
pared to the one the tourists boast from November to April, is stultifying.
transformed into orators/spokesmen and subsequently block leaders. Just as
In May 1978, Stanley and two associates of his block in San Fernando hatched a plan
earlier spokesmen/organizers had used African American music as a rhetori-
to smuggle marij uana into Tobago. The island had recently become a target for Tri nida-
cal element in organizing the limes (see chapter 1), block leaders used the dian marijuana distributors. Many were from San Fernando. For cx<tmple, on the week-
Rastafari messages of reggae music as a bond on the block. In addition to the end Stanley and his associates had chosen for the exped ition, Kid from Cocoyea had
major themes of worship of Jah Rastafari, redemption, and repatriation to joined Peaches from the Prince Alfred Street block and had gone also. A third party,led
Africa, the music explicitly sanctioned marijuana use. In effect, it legitimated by Ras Blaka from the Carlton Lane block. was making an independent trip . The San
the relationship between block leaders and their associates and justified the Fernandians had discovered that the traftlc in Tobago was still controlled by three older
belief that the Rastafari alone had been "called" to handle the "1-cient herb." men in Scarborough , the capital of Tobago. Their own efforts were wresting the traffic
out of these hands and placing it in those of younger men, and the circumstance was be-
Rastafari had the immediate effects of multiplying the number of blocks,
ing attended by a perceptible increase in demand and volume of trade.
promoting the diversity of their operations, and ensuring Rastafari participa- In the first place, the three older distributors we re Trinidadians who had intro-
tion at aJl levels of the system, including cultivation and transport by taxi duced, solely fo r the profit. a custom they had observed in Trinidad. None smoked
along the routes from marijuana-growing areas to the cities. marijuana himself or was Rastafari . The situation therefore resembled the early, pre-
During fieldwork, these effects were best appreciated in Tobago, or in the block organization of the traffic in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, where school-
smaller Caribbean islands, where the process was actually taking place in boys , taxi drivers, and itinerant peddlers had enjoyed the limelight briefly, although
1978. It had been set in motion in those locales principally by San Fernando they had not been marij uana smokers, growers, or enthusiasts themselves .
The first distributor was an Trinidadian African male of fifty years of age . Origi-
Rastafari. Diversifying their operations, they sought to smuggle marijuana by
nally from Cedros in south Trinidad, he was an oil worker who had been living with
air and sea to the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Conversion to Rastafari a Tobagonian woman in her family yard in Scarborough for the past twenty years . He
and block formation followed and quickly took root on these islands. The fol- shuttled by air to and from Trinidad each week to work, spending weekends in To-
lowing extract is selected from field notes made in May 1978 in Tobago, bago. He started distributing marijuana two years ago. Before emplaning in Trinidad
where the researcher had traveled to observe directly the simultaneous, and on a Friday, he would put a couple of pounds on a boat at the docks in Port-of-Spain .
mutually reinforcing, diffusion of marijuana, blocks, and Rastafari: His wife, the childhood friend of Tobagonian dock workers, picked up the parcel at
the Scarborough docks the following day. The second distributor, also a middle-aged
Tobago: Although it is the most colonized and dependent of the two islands, Tobago, African male, retailed dress clothes and fashion accessories in Scarborough from
with a population of 49,000, is in some respects the better-off part of the nation. The three small boutiques . He smuggled in his supply of marijuana among the bales of
island's homogeneously African society is closely knit by bonds of kinship and doth and readymades he imported from Trinidad. The third was a younger Trinida-
neighborliness. Although the dominant tourist industry is seasonal and does not pro- dian African male, thirty-five years of age, who was a ground employee of the
vide steady employment for young people, their subsistence needs are readily met. Trinidad & Tobago Air Shuttle service (TTAS) at the Scarborough airport. The three
 l'

82 Chapter 4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 83

men had no assistants. except the wife of the first. In Trinidad. they bought the mar- officials and businessmen who find themselves at the hotel bars of an evening, get-
ijuana from city distributors in San Fernando or Port-of-Spain rather than from the ting to know the tourists. The established heads of landed families, whose matrons
actual growers in the rain forest. spend Sundays straighten ing their daughters' hair, also give Rastafari short shrift .
Under this regime of supply. the Tobago traffic languished. The typical Tobagon- The young crews of the fishing and le isure boats, the manual laborers, the sons of
ian consumer visited the three distributors infrequently. They smoked large joints on subsistence farmers, and other young, unemployed Tobagonians remained, however.
weekends and special occasions. such as parties or weddings. Outside Scarborough, a potential poo l of recru its . So far Rastafari had had little showing among them, al-
it remained ditficult to buy marijuana. A typical user was the gregarious Walter. for though they were main clientele of the three established marijuana distributors . But
example, who worked at one of the hotels for tourists as a bartender. His repertoire the Rastafar i movement in Tobago took root and ex perienced rapi d growth in this
of mixed alcoholic drinks and his convivial manner attracted many foreign visitors segment of the population when the Trinidadian Rastafari reached out to individual
and Tobagonians to the bar. Walter smoked marijuana on rare occasions to add to his marijuana smokers among them. The latter started by purc has ing ounces of mari-
glamour at a party and when he wanted to show off his familiarity with a metropol- juana from the Trinidadian Rastafari to share w ith friends and often made a small
itan lifestyle. But he spoke of being afraid to use too much of it, and said with a smile profit while doing so. The arrangement was advantageous to both the Trinidadians.
that he was happier among the drinks in his bar. who got better prices, and to the Tobagonians , whose blocks thrived under this sys-
The first distributor, the Trinidadian from Cedros, said that he sold marijuana tem of regular supplies delivered to the door. These neophyte blocks were palpably
mostly in joints and that his fortnightly turnover did not exceed two pounds. Re- energized as demand rose, and conversion to Rastafari followed . Soon they were
cently, he said, some customers from Tobagonian villages had bought as much as buying pounds of marij uana from the visitors.
half of a pound, to be made into joints at home. He felt that demand was increasing, By the ti me Stanley and his party arrived, there was a Rastafari settlement in
and he put in a bid to buy outright the ten pounds of marijuana which Stanley, David. Egypt , a village near Scarborough . There were Rastafari or ;;dreads'" in several other
and Dina had brought. villages throughout the island . All were eager to do business with visiting Tri nidadi-
Thus the status quo had started changing when Rastafari from San Fernando and ans and to make business alliances for the future.
elsewhere in Trinidad had arrived. The first expeditions by Peaches and Ras Blaka in The head of the Egypt group is a typical product of the process of conversion to
1977 had resulted in the sale of their stocks wholesale to the three senior Trinidadian Rastafari which is still going on in Tobago in 1978 . A young man of twenty-nine , he
distributors. On that occasion, the first Trinidadian paid $300 a pound for marijuana is the son of a respected landowner and cocoa farmer. Unlike most of the young
that was sold in Trinidad for $200. He also bought cigarette papers, at $1.00 a packet adults encountered in Trinidad, he works on the cocoa estate and still Jive s at home
(to be retailed for $2.00 or $2.50), which were being sold wholesale in Trinidad for with both parents. But although he is neither unemployed nor dispossessed by mi-
$.50 to $.75. On subsequent trips, however, Peaches and Ras Blaka had bypassed grating parents, he is still the Tobagonian version of the Trinidadian "bad j ohn ." A
these distributors and had dealt directly with some Tobagonian marijuana smokers big-built man, he likes li quor and "romancing the daughters." Since income from the
who were trying to differentiate themselves as distributors. They helped to foster these cocoa estate is intermittent and small. however. he has been obliged since he was a
individuals as emergent Rastafari block leaders by selling them marijuana pound by teenager to find other sources for ready cash. He found the Special Works Program
pound (thus prolonging their stay in Tobago and increasing their overhead), but more preferable and access ible than the other options, such as joining a branch of the
fetched prices of $400 to $450 per pound and $1.50 for packets of cigarette papers. tourist ind ustry in a menial capacity. It also had hidden advantages. It mobilized a
Most Tobagonians had a deep-seated revulsion against Rastafari in 1978. The pro- workforce of at least 700 men and women in various projects in Scarborough. He
prietors of the services and hotels for tourists and the weekend residents or guests soon took the opportunity to organize gambling rackets among them, and to control
have experienced them in Trinidad and speak of them as "being everywhere," like their labor. Then last year, he was an accomplice in an armed robbery- he still keeps
an alarming epidemic disease. They are relieved that they have not appeared in To- revolvers -and although he was never brought to trial , his involvement appeared to
bago as yet. They cite it as one of the proofs of the "untouched" beauty of the island. be a well-known fact to the police and publ ic in Scarborough. During Stanley"s visit,
They have not yet taken stock of the fact that they are all saying. with a small face, a policeman surprised him at a street comer as he was mak ing a marijuana j oint and
that they discovered one the other day, "even here." One of their number is a he taunted the offic er, inviting him to interfere in what he was doing or to arrest him
renowned writer who has studied the speech of the Jamaican Rastafari. He allays for the robbery. As the otricer turned his back and departed, he shouted that police-
their fears by remarking that the Trinidadian Rastafari ;;are only for joke," since (ac- men were foreigners (from other islands) and cowards.
cording to him) the key to Rastafari is the lyrical and encoded Jamaican dialect, The robbery, however, was apparently a step beyond the limit he had himself im-
something Trinidadians generally. and those idlers in particular, could never master. posed upon his fan tasies of fast cars, money, three-piece suits, champagne, and end-
This opinion offers no real comfort: robbed of authenticity, Rastafari then seemed to less parties. The experience of marijuana smoking had already chastened his outlook,
be only the bearers of filthy hair, spouting ridiculous and probably hypocritical mis- and when visits from Trinidadian Rastafari guaranteed regular supplies of marij uan a,
appropriations of biblical texts and quite capable of arson and raping children. he realized that the Special Works Program labor force in Scarborough was a market
These suspicions of the Rastafari are shared by the Tobagonian employees at the he could capture all for himself. He started "Jocksing up ." He refrained from the fl am-
hotels and gift shops, by the taxi drivers and leisure boat operators, by the government boyant outrageous escapades which had made him notorious in Scarborough. At
84 Chapter 4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 85

length , he started the Rastafari settlement near his father 's property in Egypt. in- smoothly, it had to be safeguarded or strengthened when revenues were re-
stalling grass shacks (living quarters). gardens, and enclosures for goats and chickens,
distributed. After Rastafari, therefore, the carefree splurging of marijuana
and selecting four young neighbors to live with him and to help distribute marijuana.
profits on luxury food, drinks , and entertainment, or on "conspicuous con-
Like their peers elsewhere in Tohago, these block members revered and smoked mar-
ij uana themsel ves. Like other Rastafari. they excluded meat and alcohol from their di- sumption ," which had dissipated some earlier marijuana fortunes, was re-
ets and celebrated re ligious rituals and ceremonies . pl aced by investments which substantiated the religious beliefs and further
The new life is still an unaccustomed fit for the young man . He sometimes goes profited the investors.
around in his three-piece suit , but he has learned that visiting Rastafari from Land acquisition was one solution . Ten Rastafari blocks in San Fernando
Trinidad do not favor noisy receptions at bars. whe re offerings of the "best" meat maintained gardens in and around the city, while five others have bought ex-
a nd the "best" drink can be made . As marijuana revenues strengthen the settlement. tensive agricultural lands in rural parts of the island. Two of the latte r have
he has di versified and now imports or re tail s incense, handicrafts. buttons with the
also purchased pickup vans, as prospective farm vehicles. Some members of
picture of the emperor, and other Rastafari paraphernalia. At the same time. he is
genuinely more se riou s about hi s beliefs , and makes requests for lite rature on
four more blocks have transplanted themselves to separate settlements close
Rastafari. The se ttlement already grows food in its own gardens for home con- to the southeastern rain forests, where they are cultivating marijuana . Sev-
sumption , although th is is not the nove lty in Tobago as it is in Trinidad . Stanley eral other Rastafari groups simply squat on country lands and live by sub-
made a lasting impression upon him. He pe rsuaded him to stay for two weeks . a l- sistence and by sporadic marijuana cultivation. One group of men, women,
though Stanley had allotted only three days to this trip . He flattered Stanley about and children lived naked in the rain forest iself and supported themselves by
his resemblance to the emperor, and invited him to lecture at evening gatherings gathering vegetables and fruit. They showed up unexpectedly at Woodford
each day during the ex tended visit. The relationship transformed both me n. Stanley
Square in the center of Port-of-Spain and were the national sensation during
grew more thoughtful , skilled . and careful about the theology he teaches, while the
the week they camped there.
other cultivated a more attenti ve, more studious approach . out of which he was
fashioning a new persona. A Rastafari block leader who had been crippled by many arrests , but who
still kept about six young male associates busy with a chicken fann and
Block formation and Rastafari are ongoing processes not only in Tobago kitchen garden in the heart of San Fernando, has tried to interest government
but throughout the Caribbean. Since the mid-1970s, all of the smaller islands , officials in his plans for the land:
Guyana, and Belize have been penetrated in the same way as Tobago by
Rastafari of Trinidad and Jamaica . In Barbados , for example, Barnes and Pitts I have a project f or feeding de people. l have observed in dis country dat farmin g is
not established a s it should be established. I nul(:h rather de Canadian approach to
from the Cipero Street block in San Fernando import marijuana from Trinidad
farmin[?. De agricultural sector takes care of de animals: you know, you grow com
and Colombia, and have bought hotels and taxicabs in Bridgetown which ac- to feed your f owl and f rom dere you could grow grain for milling and if you ha ve cat-
commodate their couriers among the other guests . Soon after the trip to To- tle, you plant grass for de ca/1/e and you don't have to be much buyin 'from outs ide
bago , Stanley, Ras Blaka, and Peaches purchased tickets on a ship for a tour sources, you know. A sort ofsellsujjicient community.
of the Windward Islands and planned to smuggle marijuana into St. Vincent, You see de marijuana can provide de revenues f or dar. Dis is one a de main p rob-
Grenada, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla . And , of course , several moves in the lems you will lw ve though. D e system will get down on you. My information is dat
direction of New York and London have been taken. Blocks had already been de police, when dey see shacks on de land , dey does break it down. Probably is be-
cause "serious farming" [m arijuana cultivation! has been going on in de environ-
established there, and revenues of American dollars were e nric hing and
ment ah dese shacks.
strengthening the multiplex, international trading system Rastafari were put-
So just "rest up " [temporary } shacks is not de idea. De idea is establishing com-
ting in place . In each place into which marijuana was smuggled, a local net- munities where . .. you knol-V; every man will be living under his own vineyard and
work of Rastafari blocks has sprung up. fig tree in time.
Another important function of Rastafari was to articulate the pressures What we really need is land, shelter, food, and tools. Is seven brothers involved.
within the block to redistribute marijuana surpluses in an approved manner. Mostly in deir twenties, you know. One brother has a coup le of children, but dey have
Since a fundamental Rastafari teaching was self-sufficiency, or material and de spiritual motivation. Dey ain't warzt to he here on de concrete [city streets], in de
spiritual independence from the mainstream world , reve nues were directed cinema. You can 't eat your cake and have it, you must sacrifice. And dey ready.
l have two children myself. And in 5- 10 y ears ' time I must he able to provide
toward the achievement of that goal . Since brotherhood was another valued
someting real solid for dem. I just need time and de farmin g base. In more times I
precept and the ideology through which blocks worked together amicably and would like 10 write dis all down.
S6 Chapter4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 87

The newfound reverence for land, for its spiritual as well as material prom- Thus, Rastafari not only contributed to the multiplication of blocks, and to
ise, and its flowering within the marijuana experience, was voiced by another the reinforcement of social relations which differentiated the block, but also
Rastafari block leader: figured very significantly in the redistribution and exchange phenomena of
the marijuana economic system.
Ycm know what was I first experience in dis new SCGf:(! of life dar de ganja bring ? I And f inally, the step which some Rastafari brothers have taken in cultivat-
~:arden. !-man ha~· e a piece of sweet peppers dey, me and de brothers plant it to- ing marijuana themselves was radical not simply with respect to the present
gether. P('ppers, eggplant. pumpkin. I sit don g in dt• hammork. me alone. and I smoke
functioning of the marijuana economic system; but by the establishment of an
about four joints fof marijuana]. And !-man just gone off on [was absorbed by / de
pepper. 1-IIUI/l stan · up by de pepper tree and !-man went off on it. One sweet pepper African presence in agriculture and in the south Trinidadian countryside. it
tree. I nearlv hlack out /lost consciou.mess]- the vibes [vibrations1 was so heavy. I had upset the ideological bases of the social, cultural , and economic institu-
lose about $1500 on de garden. But every week de daughter [my wife] does sell [pro - tions of Trinidad as a whole.
duce] from it-and it ~:o pay too. For 15 minutes. dread: I just concentrate into dar
tree so much datI nearly hlack out. I could not hold de vibes. Dat was I first experi-
ence in dis [marijuana] stage of life. Develop de land. A complete development. De-
l•eioping dis man. THE COHERENCE OF RASTAFARI
Plenty people sighting up dis idea. hut dey not acting upon it, dey not forward in[? BELIEFS AND MARIJUANA
in de right procedure of de idea dey sight up. Dey taking ir wrong, dey just think
about it. Dey should put de idea in different fonm·. Dah is why dey say weed [mari- Rastafari of San Fernando believe, first of all, that they are a nation: they re-
juana] cracking up people: dey should act. Vegetables is our rea/j(wd. ject the idea that they are members of a gang or cult. The Rastafari nation is
Dis is a new generation, you know man, and !-man have de power to do things. Peo-
thought to crosscut the usual national boundaries- witness the growt h of
ple in Trinidad don 't rink class again: dey tinking only t?{ de standard of livinf{. And de
cost ah dat goinJ? higher and higher. But poor people can overcome dat high form of Rastafari throughout the Caribbean , in America, Britain , and urban West
life. Is just false ideas. But poor people need togethemes.l'. Dat i.l' what we want. Is ob- Africa- and in the Caribbean , where several racial groups are represented,
vious two people could do more dan one. From de time we SIQ/1 dat life, it will come even racial boundaries. Like other nations, however, a great diversity of
easier to de youth dem, because we learning it while dey will be experiencinf: it. types, personalities, behaviors, and convictions are held together by a few
Once people .~hunn ed me up here because dey say I was wayward, but in dis central conventions. In the case of the Rastafari , they are the conventions of
stage of my life. as I put forth works, people respect I. Look at dese children, dey marijuana and the marijuana traffic , actual or metaphorical.
does make you human. From .\'tage to stage, the ganja develop. lt just revealing it-
One convention is the worship of Jah Rastafari . Haile Selassi-1 is variously
self clearly. And I seeing dar and forwarding it, as de life lead. l gain my knowl-
edge through dat concentration. De ganja lead m e to know and win de hearts of considered as God Almighty, his earthly representative , or Jah's most accom-
my people. plished worshipper. Jah Rastafari is God of the " natural." His enemy is Baby-
lon, the city of "artifice," fal se gods, and corrupting ideas.
Reverence and expenditure of marijuana funds were reserved not only for Thu s, the reverence for land and agriculture, the " natural" par excel-
land , but for all the other ways in which "poor people can overcome dat high lence, is a second convention. Jab will redeem his faithful followers in
form of life." In addition to the purchases of land and farm vehicles already Ethiopia. Some San Fernandian Rastafari are content to believe that any
listed, Rastafari in San Fernando have also spent marijuana profits on: five agricultural land anywhere in the world, producing food free of "artificial''
taxis, three on one block alone, which provide self-employment for the driv- fertili zers and supporting self- sufficient cooperatives of brethren and their
ers; four modest-sized chicken farms; two herds of goats; and two dog- families , can be painted in Ethiopian colors, and is Ethiopia. The fact that
rearing businesses. Three other blocks have purchased equipment for making human existence originated in Africa also , or that the Pangean land-
shoes, an activity which engaged all their members ; while two others produced mass was once centered around Africa , supports the belie f that the whole
marijuana paraphernalia from local materials , such as coconut shells , wood, world is after all potentially a multirac ia l, universal, Rastafari nation called
and leather. Yet another was a brotherhood of woodworkers , sculptors, and Ethiopia.
carpenters. And then nearly every block, over and above its other investments, Reverence for marijuana is the third convention. It is the " natural" prod-
maintained a "coop": a shed of wood, wire, and galvanized iron roofing, from uct of the "natural" earth and was given by Jah for the " healing of nations,"
which fruits, vegetables , cooked foods, and sundries might be sold . as recorded in the Book of Gene sis. In the Rastafari symbology, marijuana
 Chapter4 Religion and Ritual in the Gat!ia Complex 89

discloses the inner man, the " natural" man. and inscribes the discipline hypocrisies, the disenchantment with the island which they express by their
needed for his evolution into the " T-man." or Oneness with Jah . frequent trips abroad, and their oft-repeated desire to migrate permanently -
Thus, the idea of growth. or "going forward." simultaneously toward "1- once enough money has been put aside for departure. He notes particularly
man," and through redemption , to repatriation to Ethiopia , is yet another con- their sterility and barrenness, their racisms, their inability to produce anything
vention . Marijuana grows, marijuana becomes more potent, awareness grows. authentic , their slavish devotion to every metropolitan taste.
creativity grows, the 1-man grows. Marijuana " builds up" the individual. The Rastaman believes that Babylon will fall and that Ethiopia will rise
There are no symbols of death in the Rastafari ideology, only those of going agai n. Ethiopia is the earth before Babylon corrupted it: a land of peace , love,
forward into life . Rastafari have never died, but have existed from creation. and togetherness . The destruction of Babylon through revolutionary action is
Rastafari did not arrive upon these conventions as a logically related not directly the Rastaman 's concern. Jah Rastafari reserves for himself the
whole, but gathered them together from different sources. The first is derived right to punish the ungodly and unjust. The Rastaman is to anticipate re-
from Marcus Garvey and Ethiopianism, while scholarship has proved that the demption and repatriation by being peaceful, full of loving-kindness, and co-
second is a prevalent African cultural survival in the diaspora of the New operative among brethren. The ideal Rastafari policy is the acquisition of land
World. The third is said to be sanctioned by biblical authority. The fourth is where the brothers may practice their religion undisturbed; this feeli ng is cel-
thought of as an extravagant claim. The symbolism of marijuana, however, is ebrated in music, painting, and literary composition. These expressions arc
the logic which , rooted in the marijuana traffic , unifies them and energizes also encouraged and rewarded with esteem and patronage.
them into the dynamic. meaningful whole which has e lectrified Caribbean All these beliefs - in marijuana as a spiritual food, land, Ethiopia, Baby lon ,
and minority populations throughout the world. Jah Rastafari, Haile Selassi-1, "1-man going forward"- and the prescriptions
A central dramatic imagery in Rastafari belongs to the Old Testament story for action which follow from them have an internal consistency when the
of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery under the Pharaoh by Moses marijuana economic system is taken as a metaphor for life generally. What-
and their subsequent settlement in prosperous lands under a dynasty of illus- ever their disparate origins , they were like engines idling un til synchronized
trious kings. The turning point in that story comes when the Pharaoh, further and energized by the marijuana economic system.
harde ning his heart , denies permission to the Israelites to worship God, and Both Ethiopia and Haile-Se lassi-1 , the nation and its king, are prefigured in
punishes them by stopping supplies of the straw from which they had built the the special space and time which the 110 blocks mark upon the San Fernan-
bricks they sold to Egyptians for their livelihood. The prohibition of mari- dian topography and in the self-sufficient, ever-resourceful block leader who
juana was likened to that against the ancient straw. increases his substance and that of his foll owing . It is a location and a per-
While the belief in redemption to Ethiopia is expressed in biblical lan- sonality defined by the struggle between the police and marijuana di stribu-
guage, the contemporary Babylon where the modern Pharaoh rules is de- tors, and then shaded more deeply by rituals of exclusion and inclusion .
scribed in the language of the newspapers or is drawn from the daily experi- Agricultural land, a real Ethiopia where fruits , vegetables. and of course
ence of modern, underdeveloped Trinidad. The Rastaman is usually a marijuana may be grown, acquires its energies as a symbol, not only on ac-
graduate of the tremendous theorizing and practice of the Black Power count of its symbolic association with the " natural" but from the process of
demonstrations in 1970. He knows about police states, paranoia, bureaucracy, redistribution of revenues and the exchange system in and among blocks.
terror, terrorism, economic crises, unemployment, malnutrition and starva- And finally, the universal applicabili ty of marij uana as the criterion be-
tion, the arms race, and the threat of nuclear disaster and ecological disasters. tween the "natural" and the "artificial" derives from the opposition between
He hears about communism, oil sheikhs, multinationals, and international it and money, each being the most general symbols of the opposed systems
movements of capital and labor. He compares the struggle goi ng on or ac- creating value in the Trinidadian socioeconomic formation. The discovery
complished in Cuba, C hina , Vietnam, Chile, Angola, Mozambique , Rhodesia , that "marijuana maki ng" refers to the "going forward" from creation in the
South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran , Nicaragua, Afghanistan , Jamaica, and Guyana life of the inner man has its opposite in the deduction that " money making"
and finds similarities between them and Trinidad. More than other Trinidadi- originates out of spiritual death. Thus, attitudes, tastes, behaviors, styles of
ans, the Rastaman takes an obsessive interest in world affairs. He takes a daily life, deriving either from spiritual plenitude or depletion , can be contrasted .
record of the doings of the well-to-do: he notes the corruption among gov- Marijuana and the marijuana traff ic, therefore, are the keys to the under-
ernment officers, businessmen, and professionals, their public and private standing of the entire Rastafari experience in San Fernando.
90 Chapter 4 Religion and Ritual in the Ganja Complex 91

RASTAFARI AS A NEW FORM OF PROTEST handed down from colonial times, had been used to rank the islands whose
AND AS A DEVELOPMENTAL IDEOLOGY contacts with one another were less important than those each maintained
with the metropolis. Trinidadians were more civilized , that is, more " white,"
"Marijuana making" and "money making" also differentiated the informal than Jamaicans (or so the Trinidadian prejudice went). Rastafari has broken
economic sector from the corporate capitalist secto r of the national econ- down these prejudices and offered a new Caribbean identity to replace them.
omy. In chapter 8 , certain changes in outlook are described as necessary if Already, the pan-Caribbean marijuana traffic has effected more interisland
an underdeveloped re gion like Trinidad is to prosper economically. Depen- economic cooperation than official attempts have done.
dence on metropolitan centers has to be reduced, and this means that a rev- These revolutions in tastes, consumer preferences, and habits of thought
olution in tastes, habits, and expectations has to occur. Indigenous produc- and behavior were very influential forces in lower-class Trinidadian commu-
tion must supersede imports. Personalities, or the ways in which persons nities in 1978. They were featured in very genuine personality changes to
identify themselves. must be altered. It is in effecting these changes that which not only the unemployed but workers also were susceptible.
Rastafari has been most successful as protest, and as the basis of a develop- These developments have not gone unnoticed . In the next chapter the ex-
mental ideology and practice . treme official reactions to them are reported.
First, the Rastafari interest in land and agricultural development must be
counted among the most exciting motivational reorientations to have oc-
curred in the Caribbean. The new moti vation is the cornerstone of the agri- NOTES
cultural renaissance that is actually required before the nation can feed itself.
Then , as apostles of "natural" substances like marijuana, Rastafari have been I. The word '' Rastafari" is used in the text as believers use it the mselves. Hence,
influential among San Femandians in breeding distrust for a whole range of "Rastafari" may mean: (I) Rastafariani sm: (2) a Rastafarian or Rastafarian s; and (3)
Rastafarian (adjective). The words " Rastafari anism ,'' " Rastafarians," and " Rastafarian"
packaged foods and meats, most of them imported or produced through foreign
are never used by Rastafari. "Jah Rastafari" means God .
methods of processing. They challenged the dietary wisdom, health assump- 2 . "Babylon is the whole complex of institutions which conspire to keep the black man
tions, and consumer habits which made them attractive. Rastafari reserved spe- enslaved in the Western world and which attempt to subjugate colored people throughout
cial scorn for the fried chicken and hamburger franchises owned by Kentucky the world" (Owens 1976) . For Rastafari , the police force was one of its incarnations.
Fried Chicken , McDonald's, and other American companies. Even young mid- 3. Darius, in chapter 3 had moved closest to being one.
dle-class children have been heard protesting that they will not eat "the dead"! 4 . "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to ope n the
The Rastafari have clearly won an important battle over the use of marijuana book, and to loose the seals thereof? . .. And one of the e lders saith unto me , Weep not:
behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevai led to open the book ,
instead of alcohol and other drugs. Very many low-income persons in search of
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I hcheld, and, lo, in the mid~r of the throne and
a stimulant will eschew the expensive imported Scotches, which had once been the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders. stood a Lamb as it had been slain. having
status symbols, and choose instead the good produced at the neighborhood block. seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
The Rastafari have also fostered a preference for locally made shoes, san- 5. The Rastafari explain that they had followed the biblical examples of Samson and
dals, and other leather goods. Several Rastafari women receive tuition fees Daniel in keeping dreadlocks . Additionally, Jamaican Rastafari had been exposed to the
from brethren to be trained in clothing design . Studies in nutrition and child- example of Indi an yogis among the Indian immigrants, who wore dreadlocks as a mark of
rearing are also funded. Rastafari handicrafts and art works have received their devotion to Lord Shiva, the Great Yogi of Hindui sm. from whose dreadlocks the
River Ganges had poured to nourish agriculture and life in the vast Indo-Gangetic plain.
recognition, and the market for them is expanding.
6. The number 1,500 is an estimate. During the 1979 Carnival (in February) for exam-
In entertainment, reggae or other fonns of Caribbean music have com- ple, 150 Rastafari were jailed in San Fernando . Another 400 paraded in a band called
pletely overtaken American popular styles on radio stations and at parties and "Kingdom of Zion ," which had been organized hy some Rastafari blocks in Moo Repos.
dances for all classes of Trinidadians. Rastafari speech conventions, derived Rastafari participation in the CarnivaL which had origi nated as a Chri stian celebration,
from the Jamaican folk language, have also been incorporated into the speech was rejected by many other Rastafari , who stayed at home and off the streets throughout
of Trinidadians generally. the two-day event. Another 500 Rastafari were among the more than 2 ,000 vendors who
Finally, the stereotyping of Caribbean peoples has been turned upside lined the streets during the holiday selling food and drin ks to revelers .
down. The "white- black" color classification of persons and behaviors,
 Chapter 5

The Ganja Complex, Rastafari,

Public Opinion, and Law Enforcement

Argyll: Once dey place you. once dis society place you on a spot, you ha · to
stay dey. Because you know what sociery i.~ about. Once a society say:
alright . ..
Vim: You is a Rasta. ... 1
Argyll: You is a Rasta! You could do what you want. you ha ' to stay Rasta. It
ain 't make rw sense trying to compromise with dem den. Dey say you
Rasta, you ha ' to stay a Rasia and live a Rasta.
(from a conversation between San Femandian Rastafari).

Thi s chapter reports the contradictory nature of the official Trinidadian reac-
tion to marijuana, the ganja complex, and Rastafari during the 1970s. This re-
sponse was integral to the phenomenon as it was then constructed, sanction-
ing actions, qualifying the behaviors of users and distributors, intimately
informing their experience of marijuana itself, and furthur shaping the
adapted ganja complex. Mixed into the substance which San Femandians
consumed as marijuana was the flavor (or potency!) of the block leader's and
the block's relation with the community and the police.
Although loud vituperation was the norm in written or oratorical public
opinion, large sections of the population were in fact very accommodati ng of
marijuana use. For example, using or nonusing residents of low-income com-
munities, in whose midst marijuana use and trafficking had flourished, sanc-
tioned them. Regular use and experimentation were also commonplace and
tolerated among the more privileged classes, who were aware that their coun-
terparts in the United States and other metropolitan countries also approved of
marijuana. The government had not treated the widespread adoption of mari-
juana as a public health matter, as it presumably would have treated a malaria
epidemic or the introduction of some virus causing physical and mental dam-

93
JliJ
94 Chaprer 5 The Ganja Complex. RasU!fari. Public Opinion, and Law Enforcemelll 95

age among citi zens: it had appointed no "commission of inquiry" with respect small churches and by some older res idents. While preachers th undered
to the nove l and striking phe110menon. Indeed, it had concluded that the organ against marijuana fro m their pulpits, however, few persons actually condoned
best suited for the management of the "drug problem" was its police. In this informing to the police or facilitating their antimarijuana initiatives.
approach, of course, it had been encouraged by the U.S. government through The Black Power revolt of 1970 stopped the accommodationist trend . Priv-
the State Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). ileged persons were then convinced that marijuana smoking and lawlessness
Before 1970. in the period of the limes, Trinidadians had regarded the use were intimately correlated. For them , the drug was responsible for every so-
of ganja as an individual failing rather than as a manifes tation or symptom of cial ill: it made its victims idle and rebellious, and those failings explained un-
a social problem. The offender, probably already labeled an embarrassment to employment, fami ly dysfunction, community disempowerment, and poverty.
a family or a neighborhood on account of other criminal behavior. found that The attitude persisted throughout the early 1970s and legiti mated more police
this generally poor public regard for himself had been confirmed by ganja raids, arrests, eradication programs, and other campaigns against marijuana
use. The substance was at the time being cautiously tested out even by its first growers, distributors, and users. Of course, the mounting arrests cemented the
users: reports about its properties relied heavi ly upon hearsay and upon such link between marijuana and lawlessness. The well-to-do, guarded behind
A merican sources of information as the film Reefer Madness. strong fences by attack dogs and private police , felt besieged by masses of en-
Arrests remained few and unpublicized throughout the 1960s. Pot use was vious poor, whom marijuana had maddened.
reported mainly as a phenomenon occurring abroad among the well-to-do It must be emphasized that the efforts of the U.S. government were not in-
youth of metropolitan centers, especially those astir in that decade's forms of significant in fomenting hysteria. Where public opinion wavered, was uncer-
personal rebellion or nonconformism. During the 1970 revolt, however, mar- ta in , or tended towards indifference, the influence of U.S. agenc ies over local
ijuana was viewed in a new light. Some critics held that ganja use indicated e lites and the leadership of Trinidadian police- through conferences, work-
social malaise and proved the incompetence of government. Thus , Desmond shops, and training programs in the United States, at which overall anti-
Allum, defending the army mutineers (see chapter I) before the Common- narcotics strategy in the hemisphere was decided-reinforced the war against
wealth judges, situated marijuana use as a negative effect of adverse social marij uana traff icking and use. A sense of crisis, polarization of civil society,
conditions: and the breakdow n of law and order was thus perpetuated (Nadelmann 1990).
As use spread gradually among workers and in the privileged classes them-
That you find equal measures of dispiritedness, despondency and disaffectio n in all selves, the assertiveness of the police overtook public reservations on the is-
sections of the community at the same time is no mere coincidence. It is not mere sue of marijuana. An opinion which gained currency - that marijuana, like
accident Lhat our civil service is inefficient and unproductive. that our fo reign ser-
every other substance, was detrimental only when abused- helped to dis-
vice is demoralized, wasteful and inutile, that o ur medical service is crippled by
criminate among users, and to justify use among the well-to-do while con-
strikes and walkouts , that our children cannot get into schools. that road transport is
strangled thro ughout the country by mismanagement and that 35 percent of o ur la- demning it among those targeted by the police.
bor force under the age of 25 is unemployed so that o ur young men and wome n roam Finally, as the full-fledged ganja complex, now comprising blocks , mari-
the streets dazed and maddened by mariju ana and narcotics (Allum 197 1. 337) . j uana use, cultivation, distribution, export, and Rastafari (ideology, reggae
music, other cultural output), gai ned increasing coherence in the new terrain
One group wh ich was prominent in the Black Power revolt and which , in to which it had been transplanted and was being adapted , the public, aided by
the low-income milieu of 1978, vigorously opposed marijuana use was made the police and newspapers, translated it into a sensationalist construction of
up of the re maining adherents of the National Joint Action Committee , one of ''drug trafficking, rebellion , crime, cults, gu ns and ·guerrillas."' Alarm over
the most influential national associations of timers in 1970. In 197R , they pro- this potent package contextualized all further views of marijuana.
fessed an African nationalism which obliged many to wear African dress, to Thus, in late 1976, after Rastafari had succeeded in establishing a presence
create and observe African holidays, to seek employment, and to lead an an- in low-income communities and had won their neighbors 'respect for their en-
ticipatory, but " Africanized," bourgeois life. At the top of their list of ganja's terprise and upright behavior, a series of articles in the newspapers assailed
reputed ill-effects was "political apathy." They were passionately opposed to them. In the f irst, the attack singled out unemployed Trinidadian Africans,
Rastafari, whom they identified as the most "apathetic" of the marijuana who were suspected indiscriminately of lunatic, "fringe" behavior. Rastafari
smokers. Their disapproval was shared by some members of innumerable were rumored, with no hard evidence, to be responsible fo r rapes , burglaries,
96 Chapter 5 The Ganja Complex, Rasrafari, Public Opinion, and Law El!(orcement 97

and the arson which destroyed several large department stores in downtown The deputy commissioner, who liked to be photographed in sunglasses and
Port-of-Spain in December 1976. Subsequent articles escalated the broadside. army fatigues and with a submachine gun, hi s shaven head gleaming Kojak-
Rastafari were depicted as a more insidious urban blight, a sickness of com- style, had been personally leading his Flying Squad in raids against marijuana
munal will , requiring surgical removal. The authors condemned Rastafari ap- growers in the rai n forests. All the nation's newspapers, but especially the
pearance, attacked their authenticity, and ridic uled their dietary practices and Bomb , had been making a hero of him. Trinidad, with its small population of
beliefs. only I .5 million, boasts two daily newspape rs, an evening news and seven
In the mounting blitz against Rastafari. other official voices were raised. Sunday weeklies. The two dailies, the Guardian and the Express, are well-
not to moderate, but to add fuel. A community officer, returning after a three- recognized, award-winning newspapers. The weeklies are the worst examples
year course of studies in Jamaica, was dismayed to see so many young of yellow journalism. Trinidadians, however. read all of them, or as many as
Trinidadians sporting dreadlocks: he felt he was back in Jamaica! He urged they can get, and are much affected by them. Circulation of these newspapers,
the government to take strong action against them. San Fernando Borough and especially the weeklies. numbers several hundred thousand.
Council officials delivered an even more serious blow, by refusing to grant Throughout this aggression, several Rastafari groups had been seeking out
food-vending badges to Rastafari for the upcoming Carnival in February public figures or professional persons-lawyers, politicians, schoolteachers,
1978. They said that Rastafari dreadlocks posed a health hazard . At the San this researcher-who could be persuaded to articulate a diffe rent outlook on
Fernando General Hospital, doctors were di agnosing all cases of mental dis- Rastafari and the marijuana traffic . One San Fernando group met with the
turbance in which marijuana use was mentioned as "cannabis psychosis"; city's inspector of police to pledge their assistance in tracking down danger-
they regarded Rastafari, when it confronted them, as a "drug-induced" disas- ous suspects claiming to be Rastafari . Others volunteered their personal hand-
sociative thought formation , and prescribed powerful psychotropic pharma- written stories to the newspapers. A few were printed. Of the favorable stories ,
ceuticals, such as Haldol and Thorazine, as treatment for the m. one featured the conversion of a "jetset girl ," who had gone to live in the hills
The newspapers continued publishing stories throughout the latter part of with a man she revered as her teacher: the story stressed the " queer" circum-
1977 , buttressing the putative connection between drugs , crime, and Rasta- stance that there were no sexual relations between them. Another articulated
farianism. The Bomb newspaper, a locally financed weekend publication the ambitions of a coop owner and his wife. who planned to make and sell
whose racy coverage of the carnal and financial scandals of the powerful or clothes and disavowed any concern with marijuana. A third was accompanied
wealthy had made its publisher a millionaire and a staunch defender o f free by photographs of wooden sculptures made by a Rastafari group, whose mem-
enterprise and America, spearheaded the offensive. ln M ay, it goaded the bers explained that their religious faith had inspired the remarkably fine work,
mayor of San Fernando to revoke her permission to Rastafari groups to build as well as their decision to exhibit them on street comers, rather than in banks,
coops, or curbside retail stalls, in the Pleasantville suburb of San Fernando. stores, and galleries. The report mentioned that some particularly impressive
They would not be emblems of self-employment , as the mayor had hoped . pieces had been broken repeatedly by the police, onl y to be carefully repaired
The Rastafari , the newspaper reported, were selling "hard drugs" from them; each time, but the news reporter refrained from comment.
quantities of "the illegal stuff' had been seized in police raids. The report now In 1978, another dimension of the war being carried on between the police
challenged the mayor to complete the work of the police, by authorizing their and the Rastafari made its way into the newspapers. While the latter had fo-
de mo lition. As a lagniappe, the appeal asserted that the Rastafari had dis- cused on urban skirmishes, a continuing battle, waged chiefly by Deputy
rupted life in Pleasantville, had molested a young woman, and had trespassed Commissioner Burroughs and the Flying Squad, raged in the forests. The
on private property. quarry in this theater was "guerrillas." At first. the latter were widely sup-
This researcher 's private investigation of some of these news features, posed to be survi ving activists from the Black Power revolt in 1970. Thirty-
aided by a disaffected member of the police force, proved that many were two had been already killed , when in April 1978, the thirty-third was shot " in
based on information provided by police officers directly to newspaper re- the middle of a marij uana field." ln the photograph, the slain "guerrilla"
porters. The officers had submitted the stories while the police was advocat- looked Rastafari , like the more recent of his predecessors at the morgue.
ing for Cabinet approval of the formation of a special squad to target Rasta- Many Trinidadians then concluded that there had never been "guerrillas,"
fari in San Fernando. It was to be patterned on the "Flying Squad," the unit only Rastafari, and that the war was agai nst them and marijuana. They
in Port-of-Spain led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Randolph Burroughs. thought that, if these were indeed the adversaries, the military-sty le efforts of
98 Chapter 5 The Ganj a Complex, Rastafari, Public Opinion, and Law Enforcement 99

Inspector Burroughs were not justified. As far as Rastafari were concerned , What good was the fi ve-shot repeater that Pumpkin carried with him? Nothing.
however, Burroughs had made the Old Testament story of the persecution of After the shooting, all Randy Burroughs had to do was move in and pick up the
the Israelites by the Pharaoh identical with theirs . pieces . A nd those pieces did not look good at all, fell as.
The Bomb newspaper, however, did not withdraw their encomiums of their
It was not long before Jude Lobin was shot, together with his young girl-
hero. Under a picture of in him with the trademark dark glasses and machine
friend Victoria Pascali: April 16. On this occasion also, the Bomb newspaper
gun, an unsympathetic text reported the thirty-third killing:
praised Chief Inspector Burroughs:
The leader is dead . Michael Pe rc ival a lias "'Pumpkin"" was killed by police bullets
last Friday morning, hours after the Bomb issued a call to Mayaro guerrillas to come It is easy for us to sit in air-conditioned offices in far-off Port-of-Spain and talk about
out of hiding and give themsel ves up. killing human beings and all that rot. What do we know of the fears of the Mayaro
Pumpkin, the leader of the Mayaro guerrillas is alleged to have shot old man people as they live on the edge of doom?
Frances at Mayaro. Now Pumpkin lies still and cold , his bullet-ridden body tell s the I don't think the cops who serve with Burroughs like the bush life they have to
story of the hunter, Randy Burroughs . live. Many of them would like to come home to the bosom of their family, but they
As I watched Pumpkin's body on the ground in the forest, it made me wonder feel they cannot leave this job undone .
what it was all about. One man running from the Jaw, killing people, doing what the I hc<~r that one big gunman is still out there in the bushes wa iting to gun down any-
hell he wants. Now his body stre tched out on the ground , stiff and cold and in his body who comes his way. I am talking about Sammy who is believed to have killed
c hest was a gaping wound. The grass stuck in his knatty hair, his mouth wide-open a few people including the preacher in St. James a year ago . Peaceful people cannot
and the ants and fli es moving in and out of his mouth . Flies and other crearures kept walk the streets until this man has bee n captured and put away. But will he give him-
crawling in and out of hi s wounds and there was Randy Burroughs and his men over self up? I do recall that last year l made a call to the guerrillas to give themselves up ,
the body waiting for the ambulance to arrive. or face the gun s of Burroughs .
As Pumpkin lay dead, he carried the mark of the Rastas, a red string tied around Some of them called me , one was Jude Lobin , who is now dead. He said he
his waist, knotted in two places . This was his cult, the Rasta cult. He also wore his wanted to come in and he in fact came to my home one evening . He hijacked a taxi
Rasta hairstyle and as he lay on the ground both hairstyle and red string made no and tied the driver up and kicked him out of the car near my home .
sense . Is that the behavior of a man who wanted to talk peace? More like he wanted to
Yes, it makes you wonder, doesn' t it? Just what the he ll are these young men try- get me too.
ing to prove when they steal a shotgun and declare war on the law? Just what cause At this point , I myself would not tru st any guerrilla who says he wants to give
are these men fighting for when they rob, beat and kill their own? himself up. I feel sure that those fellows arc playing the j ack and they have become
Pumpkin was shot just about 50 yards from the Naparima/Mayaro Road. He had kill-crazy.
pitched camp there in the forest and with him carried one of the deadly five-shot re- We have been hearing of the behavior of crazed guerrillas in Ireland who spe nd
peater guns . In his sack was a large quantity of ammunition, binoculars and other all their time thinking how to kill innocent people.
army-type material. I think our boys in the hills see themselves as some sort of tribe who will shoot
The shooting took pl ace at abo ut II :30. According to reports, Pumpkin had gone first and take any action against the peaceful population just to perpetuate the kind
out to the roadside and there he met a young boy whom he asked for food . The boy, of li fe they chose for themse lves.
sensing what was going on and who the man was. quic kly alerted older people and There was a time when a man who was di saffected from society would leave the
they in tum alerted the Rio C laro police . From there a call went to the Crime Chief, country or some s uch thing. Now they go to the hills and get guns and try to kill oth-
Randy Burroughs, and in quick time young Pumpkin lay dead, stretched out and ers who don 't want to live like them.
cold. Like the people of Mayaro I bold Randy Burroughs in the hi ghest esteem and I
And now it leaves you to wonder what will happen to the rest of these so-called think if these bush folk want to kill peaceful people then they must take the conse-
guerrillas who believe in violence. There arc now two known men left, Kenneth quences.
Sammy and Jude Lobin - and by these standards one of them has to step into the To pussyfoot and talk about police persecution is a lot of hogwash. This is a prob-
shoes of Pumpkin and it is going to be the same old story again . lem facing us and we must tackle it strong , not to bow to the wishes of the guerrillas.
Can somebody get a message to Jude Lobin and Kenneth Sammy and te ll them If a guerrilla knows that he will have to face trial for the acts he has committed,
that it is not too late for the m to come in'? Sooner or later you are going to end up will he really come in? Unless. of course , those who suggest turning-the-cheek feel
like Pumpkin-dead, stiff and cold. Pumpkin 's picture did not make a pretty picture we should take these men back into society and forget all their past misdeeds? If that
and those bullets and bullet holes that filled his body is just what is going to happe n is so, I would not mind becoming a guerrilla too, do my thing, and then just come
to you . out and beg.
100 Chapter 5 The Ganja Complex, Rastafari, Public Opinion. and Law Ef1forcement 101

That wo uld not be a bad idea. In the meantime , I would settle for Randy Bur- The Punch followed up this article with reports of their investigations in
roug hs and his men. Let them clean up the hills. I up to that. the " battle" area. "Jude was cornered and killed by the cops" was the title of
the first (April 30, 1978):
The Punch was the only Trinidad newspaper to carry an editorial line, for
a few weeks, condemning the killings. The Punch editor wrote (April 23 , Jude Lo bin , the " most wanted" man who was killed by the police. did not try to am-
1978): bush the po lice, as origin<tl reports indicated . ln fact, it was the police who waited on
Lobin that nig ht in an effort to capture him .
Jude Lobin . the " guerrilla" who was shot to death last weekend by the Police in the These are the conclusions a Punch Team of investigators have come to after
Mahoney Forest of G uayaguayare wanted to come out of hidin g and g ive himself up. spending se veral days in the area where Lobin and his girlfriend Victoria Pascali
But he was afraid the police would not give him a chance to live . were killed . And after speaking to several residents in the Guayaguayare districts.
This is the story his father Donovan Lobin gave after he received the news of his Lobin and Pascali were confronted by the po lice just 50 paces from where Lobin's
son's death . And I belie ve Jude Lobin's father because the same thing is happening famil y Jives at the comer of Maloney Road and Guayaguayare Road.
to several other yo ung men who are in the hills and forests of Guayaguayare. They According to the Punch investigators, the drama really began on Friday night of
want to come out and give themselves up , but they are afraid they will end up like that weekend when police spotted 21 -year-old Victoria Pascali in a taxi heading along
Lobin . I know, becau se I received calls for assistance on behalf of some of these the G uayaguayare Road. Realizing that she was on her way to see Lobin who was hid-
young men. But there seems precious little I can do for them. ing deep in the Maloney forests . they waited for the couple at the Maloney/G yaya
Even before Lobin was killed , the Punch received its fir st call fo r help. According Junction . At around 8 pm on Sunday night, Lobin and Victoria were seen walking to-
to the spo kesman o n the ir behalf, most of them admit freely to being guilty of a ny wards the junct ion where Victoria was to get a tax i to carry her hack to her home in
and all kinds of marijuana offenses which they might be accused of. Pleasantville. San Fernando. Lobin was armed with a sawed-off shotgun .
But when it comes to the more serious charges of murder, shooting. and robbery, They stopped to say the ir farewells on the Maloney Road , about 50 paces from
they are denying that they kno w anything about these crimes. Lobin 's home at the com er. And at approximately 8: 15 pm the shooting began.
"Some of these men I am talking about have grown up in Mayaro-Guayguayare ," One resident in the area said: I heard one shot first of all and this was fo llowed by a
said the contact. "And they would never think of bringing harm to the people they burst of shooting from what sounded like machine guns. Then the police started shout-
have known all the ir lifetime," he pleaded. On yet another occasio n, the incidents ing in the street for everyone to stay in their houses and not to come out until they were
surrounding two brothers taking to the hills were related to me. The police ra ided told to . In the morning. when we came out, we saw signs where Lobin had died.
their home o n Maloney Road two years ago and found some weed [marijuana] in the Res idents all confirmed that Lobin knew the Maloney forests like the back of his
house: as a result they were charged. But after this, they were terrorized and tled to hand as he had lived in the area for most of his life. But they all contirrned that he
the hills, not to beco me guerrillas or anything like that, but out of frustrati on. They met his death just yards away from his home whi ch would have been most unlikely
want to come out and face the charges they know they are g uilty of. And there are place to lay an ambush for the police.
others in the gro up like them but they are afraid they will be killed and they need O ne of Lobin 's brothers Martin was at home at the time of the shooting. " I Jay flat
help. on the ground and did not move when the shooting started:· he said. Ano ther brother,
J do not do ubt fo r a minute that crime-ace Randy Burroughs and his Flying Squad Tony, says he was " down the road when the shooting started." I re mained down there
are after some killers in the Maloney Forest. But I know fo r sure that there are other and did not go home fo r some time," he said , " then I learned it was Jude who was
young me n in the hills who are not in this class and they find the mselves like Peters , killed with Victoria."
paying fo r Pauls. The Punch also learned the new identity of the new head of police 's " most
This country has become so accustomed to "guerrillas" being gunned down by the wanted" list. He is known in the a rea as "B rothers" but the villagers refuse to give
police that it is no longer front-page news in the newspapers. any more information about him other than to ~ay that he is a mao who has vo wed
In fact it is hardly even a talking point anymore. We are just dismissing these deaths never to be taken ali ve.
as though it was a movie we had seen or heard of. But it isn't a movie and those young It is w idely believed in Guaya that "B rothers" was with Jude Lobin on the night
men in the hill s need help or they too may end up on slabs in the mo rtuary. of the shoot-o ut. But he was waiting for Lobi n some fifty yards behind on the other
To make matters even worse for these young men, there is a businessman in the side of the Maloney Road . One resident said: this would account for the police shout-
area who is doing a thriving business out of the labor in the hills of these unfortu- ing that night that it was three of them they had caug ht.
nate and misguided young men. And while he struts around, unmolested and enjoy- The villagers all ag ree that Lobin was on the scene of the three murders for which
ing the finer things of life, his " employees" are now facing the barrels of police guns. he was wanted. " But why should the reports say he tried to ambush the police," they
The messages 1 received all indicate one thing: they would accept any man of any ask. " He certainly would not have tried such a stupid thing at the spo t where he was
choice to act on their behalf to work for their safe exit from the hills . killed."
102 Chapter 5 The Ganja Complex. Rastaj(Iri, Public Opinion. and Law Enjim·emenc 103

San Femandians were asking these questions with particular urgency in ''The whole thing about him having a toy gun is a big joke among all who knew
taxis, shops, bars where persons drink after work , at the market, and on the him. Keith joined Brinks in 1970 and worked as a security officer until 1973. He left
streets. Victoria Pascali had been a San Femandian, as Jude Lobin had been the job because of his dislike for g uns. And that's ho w he ended up working as a
pipe-fitter at Texaco."
once , and both belonged in the c ircle of Rastafari on the city's blocks. The lat-
The Bomb is of the opin ion that Security Minister Donaldson should check o n his
ter felt that it was no longer useful to hunt for differences between "true" and
policemen about this one. For underg round investigations have revealed that there
" false" Rastas as a defense against the police: the latter would not discriminate. were intox icated policemen at the Siparia fete. on that tragic nighr.
Parents in low-income neighborhoods, the parents of the Rastafari , thought
that, even if they disapproved of marijuana and an unusual hairstyle , their cen- The events of April were not dismissed in the pu blic mind as resulti ng from
sure certainly stopped short of murdering their children . Even lower middle- drunkenness on the part of a few police officers . It would not be extravagant
class persons -elementary schoo lteachers, nurses. clerks- who had always to claim, indeed, that Babylon had acquired a corporeality tor a population far
considered themselves immune fro m such police attacks, could not accept the more numerous than its Ras tafari com ponent. Babylon included all those who
silence and complacency of their role models in the middle classes. There had were keeping silent: the lawyers, the government officials , the businessmen
been the murder. after all , of Keith Cumberbatch on April 8. The Bomb had re- and the ir lackeys, other professionals, and people too " blinded by the ir reli-
ported this story on April 14: gion to see reality."
The c leavage in San Fernandian society which had expressed itself in the
A young w idow is calling on Security Minister John Donaldson to clear the air on
demonstrations of 1970 grew deeper as a resul t of these more recent events.
the shooting of her husband. by one of his policemen. She is Betty Cumberbatch ,
wife of the late Ke ith Cumberbatch , shot by police on Saturday last.
Henceforward, wherever San Fernandians gathered, the issues of ganja and
Cumberbatch is the 29-year-old Texaco pipefitter who wa~ sho t outside a S iparia the Rastafari were viewed from opposed structures of class prej udice .
fete last weekend . Police say he was smoking marijuana and when they we nt to ar- The newspapers continued to vie w the " guerrillas" as political acti vists and
rest him. he pulled a toy g un on them. But Be tty Ann, a trained nurse, is not buying ex pressed the vie w that the police were not adequate to the situation . Trevor
their sto ry at all. She 's charging that her husband was slaughtered like an animal in Millett had written in the Express of April 30:
cold blood. "If this was not the case,'' she's asking , ''why were there so many strange
deve lopments afterwards'1" Nobody calls them guerrill as anymore; tht:y art: just plai n bandits. Their intention is
Betty Ann is charging that her husband was shot in the back. A midw ife at the to tem>rize the country and get something for nothing. At least that's what people
Couva Hospital , she told the Bomb she was at the post-mortem of her husband at the say. And who can prove them wrong?
San Fernando Hospital. And the post-morte m showed that the bullet h<td entered his But if the guerrillas of this country are waging a war, it seems to be a war of self
back, piercing his lungs. destruction because nobody but themselves are the losers. Thei r deaths no longer
If we can take the nurst:'s word as correct, the n there is need for a full inve,tiga- stimulate concern but o nly passing interest which soon melt s to indi ffere nce.
tion into this case. Yesterday it was Beve rly Jones (Septembe r 1973): today it is Vic.:toria Pascali.
Another point she is raising is that the pol ice did not tell her about the toy gun Both were young. black females who were sent away quite abruptly into eternity.
when she went to the Siparia station to inquire about her husband's death. She said: How many will suffer the same fate, o nly time will te ll. And what is being done to
''Kei th's brother Steve is also a policeman and when he went to the station he was pre vent it ? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
told about the gun. But nobody could produce it for him to see." And yet one cannot help but be troubled hy this shameful waste of human re-
Betty Ann reported that her hospita l contacts reported that on the following day so urces. It is said that our human resources occupy an important place in the national
after her husband 's death - Sunday last-a party of policemen went to the morgue economy. If that is so . sho uldn 't we do something to conserve it?
and tampered wi th the body. She said one of the po licemen had a parcel. with some- There is no question abo ut the necessity of punishing criminals hut even " The Son
thing which looked like a gun . And she feels that it was at that time they skillfully of Sam'' has been accorded the opportunity to face a court of law. No instant death .
placed the deadman's fi ngerprints o n the toy gun. She said there was fin gerprinting If instant death were an effecti ve deterrent then the g uerrilla war would have e nded
ink all ove r the dead man 's hands afterwards. long ago. Why does it pers ist'1 "G uerrilla activity is first and foremost political ac-
T he young widow from Plaisance Park San Fernando is building a strong case tivity of the most sophisticated and technical nature. Criminals give up, guerrillas
against the police, for she is no fool. She said : "A doctor told me that there was no cannot,'' writes Bukka Rennie in " Revolution and Social Development." He advises:
ev idence of dope in Keith 's body." Betty Ann is al so talking abo ut the matter of the 'T o elim inate such activity, its causes must first be removed ." And he goes on to ex -
dead man's keys. " Why did they want the keys? Evidently, they had not known he plai n that the causes lie in the contradictions of capitali sm. Perhaps he is right, per-
drove the car. Did they want to take something o ut, or put something in is my ques- haps not. True enoug h, one cannot help but believe that social conditions have some-
tion to the Security Minister. thing fundame ntal to do with the persistence of this kind of activi ty. And possibly
104 Chapter5 The Gnnja Cumple.x. Rastufari, Public Opinion, and Law Enforcement 105

because they are convinced that they have the solutions to the problems of the co un- down and h ave dialogue wi th common criminals. Th is appears to be the Govern-
try, the guerrilla/bandit continues to fight even though he suffers the most. ment's attitude in the whole affair.
Neverthe less, o ne wonder' whether in fact they do have any sort of feasible eco- In the legal sense, government is right , since this would be interfering with the due
nomic and social programmes planned for the country if they should ever take over. process of law. Unfortunately. th is has been quite often the barrel of Burroughs's gun.
Or arc they going to p lunge us into darkness. into an even greater chao s than we are On the o ther hand , a government m ust show some p ublic concern fo r alienated
in right now. Can they eliminate the scourge of unemploy ment, which in 1974, ac- youth, especially those who have opted for the extreme of v iolent revolutionary ac-
cording to the Central Statistical Office information. claimed 61,800 victims? Will tiv ity. These same youths are the sons and daug hters of the PNM - 23 years ago their
they make it easier for middle and low-income groups to buy lands and homes? [n parents invested the ir hopes and dreams on th is national movement, expecti ng a
s hort , do they have workable plans to improve the quality of li fe in Trinidad and To- brighter day ti>r themselves and their children. If on ly for this reason. G overnment
bago? Surely they know that a revolution based on gue,swork and haphazardness is should have a moratorium o n the matter.
doomed to fai lure'! Maybe that accounts for their non-achievement so far. The grim reality is that thousands and tho usands of graduates from secondary
Say what you will, but there must be some reason for these people, branded ban- schools are not goi ng to get jobs and are going to trip o ut on drugs o r be hostile to
dits, to appropriate funds and weaponry and live in the hills. Why the hills'l Why not the powers-that-be. They will , in the long run , p ose a greater threat to the Establish-
the towns where they can spend their money and enjoy life? If nothing e lse, their ment as prices soar. as land and ho using s lip out of the reach of the average Trinida-
way of life shows they are disenchanted: the roads are bad, the telephones do not dian, and as food shortages continue . This is something for Dr. Eric Will iams to think
work. the education system leaves much to he d esired, insanity is on the rise amo ng about.
young adults and dai ly the society is grow ing more vicious. But whatever the causes
for this type of activity, it is destined to face constant suppression. And probable de- As the second half of 1978 continued, more bombs rocked Port-of-Spain,
feat. "When disaster strikes an island ," wrote the late Tobagonian poet, Eric Roach, more raids on marijuana growers and dealers were reported, and more com-
''there is simply not enough room for maneu vers and time to manipulate forces to plaints were raised against the police. But the same assumption continued to
contain it . In the limited space. o ne's back is immediately to the wall and o ne has ei- hold: people were either going to be "doped out" or be against the "Establish-
ther to annihi late or be annihilated."
ment"; and if not the police, who would deal with these alternatives? The Bomh
Let us h ope that something miraculous happens soon to bring a halt to this anni-
hilation of young citizens which is taking place. editor, champion of the police force, had to admit in an article on August 18:

My files are bulging with complaints made against senior and j unior officers who
An article in the National Target of May 27 gave further expression to the
have taken bribes, beaten up women, bought an d sold weed, seized money in raids
unhappiness the whole development had brought:
and converted it to their own use . I know of a top cop who himself went illegally
down the main and broug ht back contraband liquor for himself and friends. What
A ceasefire between Government and the misguided youths in the bush, seems to be
about the cop in the infamous Pampallone affair brought to lig ht in Parliament?
something out of the question . These guerrillas or whatever they truly are. will keep
Nothing was done to him. He was j ust g iven his pension and to ld to go home .
on the run , frightening villagers. Crime Chief Burroughs w ill pursue, relentlessly
When junior officers see this sort of thing happening, who can blame them for
ki lling o ne of the hunted here and there. And this is how matters will be next week,
feeli ng that if the officer could do it , who is we?
next month , next year, most likely in the year after that.
Christmas, Carnival, cocktail parties, billion-dollar industrial dreams at Point
In the September 29 issue of his paper, the same editor wrote, on the ques-
Lisas; business as usual notwithstanding, the Burroughs pursuit will continue. Bur-
roughs may not be getting any younger. But he does not appear to be tiring also or
tion of search warrants and the registry of prisoner's property in the Property
any less e nthusiastic in his grim and seeming ly unend ing chore. The hunted do not Book at police stations:
seem to have lost heart, and arc just as elusive. no less tenacious, or for that matter
any smarter. It is now more than six years that these youths have taken up arms Today I want to discuss with the man I admire , Pol ice Chief Randy Burroughs two
against the Establishment, and there seems to be n o letting up , a ltho ugh Burrough s aspects of the police work that wou ld clear the air for many citizen s who have been
has been doing a fairly efficient job in wiping the m o ut. But each fallen comrade ap- calling me to get the damned thing settled .
parently serves to strengthen their resolve to remain in the bush and f ight a hopeless First is about these fast Flying Squad-type raids all over the country, like the one
battle, gaining recruits a ll the time . last weekend when at least twenty persons were rounded up by keen cops in this
When wil l it all end? Government does not seem to be too concerned about it: af- ·• drive to keep the country free .
ter all Burroughs is still there. And. to which Government do these youths really pose Let me say first that this little nation of ours is rid dled with too much crime and
a threat? Aren't they more of a nuisanci value. They are on the run all the time, so brutality and I am one hundred percent in support of any move to check it. B ut let us
why bother to call a truce or have a moratorium: why should the government step make sure at the same time that in trying to stop one sort of crime we do not create

.. \
106 Chapter 5 The Danja Complex. Rastafari. Public Opinion, and Law Enforcement 107

a bigger mon ster - the brutal police otficer who w ill invade the rights of citizens to lice source said . He stated that scores of complai nts fro m other citizens about ad-
make his raid . verse activ ities of the Rastas led to the fo rmation o f the squad .
Have these po licemen got the rig ht to search the ho mes of c itizens by just swoop - "'Rastas have been accused of mo lesting both o ld and young women in the areas,
ing down on the m or must they get a search warrant? I m ysel f find it d iftl cu lt to be- and trafficking and sell ing marijuana. especially to schoolchildren," he said. '·Fol-
lieve your cops. Randy. can get searc h warrant ' for all these pe ople and their homes lowing a full investigation into the complaints we believe the reports are true . As a
in these lightn ing ra ids . A Trinid adian home . li ke the Englishman 's must be consid- resu lt. a sq uad of 10 constables and a corpo ral has been formed to d eal with the sit-
ered his castle no matter at what level. and it is wrong of policemen to swo op down uatio n."
like that on the home of anybody no matter at what stratum of soc iety, just li ke that. Over the weekend , I 5 Rastas were he ld fo r questio ning in connection with pos-
It could have the mak ings o f a police state . It could make o ur ci ti.~:en s in th is dem- session and trafficking of marijuana . Since the squad h it the street last week. over 50
ocratic nation very uneasy and that stage could be worse than the tirst stage. people have been arrested, the majority Rasta. charged wit h o ffenses ranging from
whe whe [a gambling game I to larceny.
Throughout 1978, the battle between the police and the "guerrillas" raged D urin g last week 's drive by the spec ial sq uad, a num ber of Rastas have abandoned
and claimed another six lives. Then it escalated to another level of complex- their shacks and f1ed the areas.
ity with the new year. The action returned to the city, where some groups of
On February 5, another story declared , ''COP KILLERS bei ng trained in
Rastafari had been favored over others and had been g iven carte blanche by
South":
the police to sell marijuana.
On January 9 , 1979, a feud began between two Rastafari blocks in San Fer- A bloo dc urdling story of ki lle r d ogs be ing trained to j u mp at the throats of po-
nando. During the four days it lasted , five men were severely wounded with licemen has been revea led and is now being linked to the d isappearance of over
blows from cutlasses. The newspapers reported that the fracas had resulted 25 dogs in South Trinidad. The report has put a g ro up of Rasta-styled men under
from a quarrel over meat-eating and the correct Rastafari attitude toward it. close scr utiny, fo llow ing con fess io ns by deserters o f the g ro up . The dog~ are be-
In fact , the dispute resulted from the unprecedented straits in which the mar- ing tra ined to attack pol icemen. " Du mm ies dressed in black sho rts and grey
shirt s. the colors of the poli ce unifo rm , are the targe ts used fo r the dogs to j u mp
ijuana supply had found itself.
at." said one former member o f the gro up. According to his repo rt , " the dogs are
In December 1978 , the price of marij uana had been $300 per pound from
g iven d aily in tens ive trai ning and arc p rogrammed to attac k the targets and reach
the planter. 1\vo weeks later, at the time of the dispute , the price had risen to fo r throats . The res ult is snarling. spitting, vicio us dogs who are just out for
$600 , and marijuana was extremely scarce. Blocks were idle , and some were blood ," he said.
planning to close down. In February, the price rose to $850 , and the entire San The aim of this killer dog project, it is understood , is fo r the men to have some
Fernando supply fell into the hands of one man . Cultivators turned back their sort of defense should their group be attacked by the lawmen.
clients, promising that fresh crops would be available by early April if they A recent s ituatio n where a " Rastaman" terro ri zed some Pon-of-Spain schoolgirls
were not destroyed . wi th fi erce dogs . led to a decision by the school's board to start cla~ses at Whitehall
today. Th is morni ng parents and uniformed c hi ldren will ask Prime Mi nister Eric
The effects of the " lightning raids" by police and army during the previous
Williams to discuss security at the St. Francois G irls School in Belmont.
year. and especially in the latter half, when helicopters and light airplanes "Don 't move. Don 't scream . The dogs are trained to attack ," he told them as they
were used for the first time to search for plantations in the rain forest, were cowered in a comer. He moved o ff as a group of boy s app roached. South police have
finally being felt. The fe ud reflected the difficult times. Blocks had been stak- expressed concern over the rash of dog napping in the area. The canine thieves are
ing out turf for their operations, and in the case of these two blocks , bound- very choosy and go after pedigree breeds like Alsatian and Doberman.
aries had been violated . The situation was unprecedented , the feud was un- On February 16, fron t page news was that Kenneth Sammy, the "guerri lla" who
precedented , and so was the violence . had accompan ied J ude Lob in , had been ki lled . The news reports said that he had
bee n k illed " in the mid d le of a marijuana p lantation."
The police in San Fernando, under Inspector Randy Pierre, immediately
formed a " Rasta" Squad and supplied several stories to the press . "Rastas are On February 16 the Bomb carried a long article called "Naked War on Cops
on the move in San Fernando and surrounding areas following the formation by South Rastas":
of a special squad to deal with them ," said the first , on January 29 .
Rastas in the Sou thland have launched a frig htening and vicio us war o n pol ice-
At the start of the new year a series o f break- ins and larceny at h ouses and business men. In surprise night attacks ov er one week , Ras tas have wounded f ive cops, all
places led top police investigators to believe the Rastas were behind the crimes, a po - in separate inc ide nts . The Bomb has learned that the Dreadlocks men mean
 Chapter 5 The Ganja Complex, Rastafari, Public Opinion. und Law Enj(Jrcement 109
lOB

dead ly business and within the past two weeks have he ld two meetings in the Roy tacks against them and other frighteni ng ones planned , the cops are going to need a
Joseph Scheme, San Fernando planning an attack strategy. hell of a lot of back-up.
So far they have agreed to use sulphuric acid in eggshells and small phials for pe lt-
ing the cops, trained Alsatian and Doberman dogs and cutlasses . The Bomb learned
too that the Rastas arc keeping the cops under observation and in surprise moves These articles, appearing as San Fernandians got read y for Carn ival on
have cast aside their differences and banded together. F ebruary 26, caused a great deal of alarm. The Rastafari blocks m ade several
The anacks on the cops who were all in pl ainclothes at the time. began last week individu al attempts to contact journalists who co uld be persuaded to print
Thursday (8th) when PC Matthew G eorge who is now on suspension was bom- more truthful information. One police officer, a marijuana user and familiar
barded with a barrage of bon les. At the time he was in a bar in La Romain and he on the blocks, suppl ied proof that Rastas had not been involved in any of the
had to be rushed to the San Fernando hospital for inj uries to his face. chest, and head .
incidents reported in the Bomb artic le, but that the information had been given
Then next night. PC Hillary Brereton (No. 8766) who is attached to the St.
to the newspaper by the Special Squad, as part of a massive campaign they
Madeleine Police Station was chopped behind his head and received seven stitc hes.
PC Brereton was walking along a hack street on patrol duty whe n a car pulled up and were preparing against San Fernando Rastafari.
a Rasta swung a cutlass at him and the car sped away. Persons in the middle classes d id not ask whether sulphuric ac id could in
The n, on Saturday night, PC Smith (No. 9382) of Benson Street Station was badly fact be contained in eggshells, or whether the huge demand for cutlasses was
beaten by three Rastas while he was at a party at lhe St. Louis Commerc ial School not a yearly occurrence , coinciding with the sugarcane-cutting season. Mes-
in Chase· Village. Chaguanas. He was warded at the San Fernando hospital . sages were passed from senior police officers , magistrates, and others to
On the same night PC Humphrey John (No. 6925 ) of the San Fernando Special prominent businessmen, professionals. and other well-to-do people that the
Squad was chopped seven times while he was walking along Chaguanas Main Road.
Carnival would be a violent one. Many made plans to spend the holiday at
The Rastas were in a Datsun l20Y and the car passed him . turned around and when
it was alongside him the Rastas leapt out shouting "Look, a Babylon from the South'' beaches or out of the island.
and rained chops on the surpri sed cop. The calypsos of 1979 were a very defin ite ingredient in the turmoil. Four
And on Saturday too , at the Clash of the Giants in Sk inner 's Park, San Fernando. Rastafari calypsonians had hit songs, including Black Stalin, whose
PC Francis (No. 8774) of the St. Margare t's Police Station was injured on his face "Caribbean Man" won him the Calypso Monarch Crown. The music had be-
and head . come very sophisticated: there were soul and calypso blends, as well as reg-
Apart from these attacks . two women have al so been threatened , one being WPC gae and calypso ones, which asto nished Trinidadians. The lyrics represented
King of the Special Squad whose husband was WASA's acting PRO Patrick King
a complete turnabout from previous years: they were " message" calypsos, in
who recently died in a motor accident. She had been walking up High Street whe n
which the Rastafari voice was o utstanding and predominant. The "guerrilla
some Rasta told her "So you in the Special Squad too ..." and left on that puz-
zling note.
war" was the topic of many songs, as was the economics of m arijuana and the
The other woman was Maril yn Charles , an employee of Barclay's Bank . Lower police infiltration of it.
High Street. She is the wife of PC Allen Charles of the Spec ial Squad and she had Further excitement was caused by the announcement that there was a yel-
just left the bank after work last week when some Rastas approached her. " If we low fe ver outbreak which req uired the island to be sprayed by light airplanes
can't get your husband , we' ll get you." they threatened and went off. in the week before Carnival and perhaps on the C arnival days also. There was
Rastas in strange cars have also been driving around the homes of some cops.like
a mass inoc ulation effort, and it was rumored that Carnival would be post-
Inspector Randy Pierre (who resumes duty today) and PCs Joel Shepherd, Robert
poned. The unprecedented state of the marijuana supply was also a serious in-
Dash and Desmond Re nne. In fact. the situation has created so much concern in the
South land that senior police ofli cers have advised cops to be very careful. On Mon- convenience to the thousands of lower-class users. Of the II 0 blocks in San
day, ASP Peter Richards held a meeting with San Fernando cops and warned them Fernando, only 42 had remai ned in operation . Planters had no more marijuana
to be on the alert against attack . particularly for the upcomi ng Carni val. to sell, as Darius had bought out what they had at $450 a pound . He was now
Within the last two months 25 Alsatians and Doberman dogs were reported stolen selling his hoard from his co untry location , and all the remaining 42 blocks
to police. five at one swoop at Coconut Drive in La Romain . Reports that the Rastas were compelled to buy at his price, or $850 per pound . In the city. the price
were training the dogs with dummies on the San Fernando hill leaked out to police of a joint doubled, from $1.00 each to $2.00, and the n settled at $1.50 each .
following a split in thei r camp. But when the cops raided the Hill two weeks ago, the
It was an odd, unsettling figure : the $ 1 unit is a worldwide one in the mari-
Rastas had abandoned their camp - but there were traces of their activity there.
The Bomb learned from store owners that Rastas in San Fernando waged war
juana traffic. Ten days before Carnival , Darius was arrested, and this supply
against each other and the cops were frig htened to break it up. And with deadly at- too was threatened.
110 Chapter 5 The Ganja Complex, Rastaj(n i, Public Op inion , and l.-av.· Enforcement II l

Throughout the week before Carnival, marijuana-using and -distributing whether the police were not the ones most able to plant the bomb, and
circles were baffled by yet another mystery. Two Port-of-Spain blocks put out whether the incident had not been engineered to justify the surveillance .
for sale large quantities of what they called "Colombie" (Colombian mari- As usual , the Carnival celebrations in San Fernando were not marked by
juana). In a few days, the remaining San Fernandian blocks who could afford any violent acts whatsoever. On both days, the masqueraders , who are drawn
the price- $1 .100 per pound- had bought some to retail at $2 a joint. It was nowadays almost exclusively from the ranks of white-collar workers -from
widely believed that this was "police" marijuana and that it was pressed local clerks and secretaries to their employers -paraded undisturbed; while other
marijuana rather than an import from Colombia. According to this interpreta- San Fernandians . and hordes of visitors from surrounding areas , bought and
tion, the purpose of the mounting police campaign against San Fernando sold foodstuffs and drinks , looked on, and "jumped up." On Tuesday evening,
Rastafari had been to stamp out their independent relations with planters (or a Rastafari band of about 400 dreads , as well as other dancers, paraded with
Darius, as it turned out) and to bring them under control, in the allegedly po- a steel band. The newspaper reported two shocking crimes for the season - a
lice-dominated, "Colombie" supply chain. Port-of-Spain blocks, it was ar- rape and a murder- which had both taken place in Port-of- Spain .
gued, were not being harassed in this organized manner, because they had al- On Wednesday morning, San Fernandians learned that in the future , gov-
ready been brought in line. ernment purchases of arms for internal security purposes would be made in
On Friday, February 23, in the mid morning , police and army armored secret. Many Rastafari read the announcement in the newspapers as they hur-
trucks rode along the main street of San Fernando and arrested Rastafari in ried to arrange bail or engage lawyers for their arrested comrades . Crowds of
Navet, Pleasantville, Mon Repos, and other low-income neighborhoods. The Rastafari gathered near the courthouse .
raids continued throughout the weekend and over the two days of Carnival. A secondary school teacher, heir to a thriving Lebanese clothing store, was
On Monday, February 26, rumors that these police actions were taking place very upset by what he saw as a definite upsurge in racial feelings. He had
were confirmed in the Express. The headline said, "150 held in South Raid": played "mas" himself, but felt excluded by Stalin's calypso, which said of the
"Caribbean Man" that he belonged to "the same race, from the same place ."
Surprise raids by a joint police/army party are continuing in San Fernando and its en- Abroad, where he had been a student, he had been active in West Indian or-
virons. So far over 150 people have been detained for questioning and several Rasta
ganizations , and felt that there, other West Indians would have rejected the
shacks demolished. Several cutlasses were found in one hut.
The raids started Friday at La Romain and the combined force has since visited
"racial" appeal of such a calypso. He felt, if people were going to be "racial,"
Pleasantville and Marabella. A party of Regiment soldiers have set up camp in San that he was an Arab, that he had had nothing to do with the white man and
Fernando and unconfirmed reports state that Police Commissioner Randolph Bur- slavery, and so he would fight for his rights . He had already admonished his
roughs will be in San Fernando for the Carnival celebrations. wife's family, who were Indian, that it was up to the more numerous ethnic
The moves followed reports that an lntcr-Rasta "war" is to take place in San Fer- groups like the Indians to take action in this deteriorating situation.
nando. Tensions have escalated since mid-January when there was a free-for-all fight Asked whether he had experienced any racial animosity during Carnival,
in which several Rastas received chops and were warded at the San Fernando Gen-
he said he didn't think so. Asked whether he felt the police were not being al-
eral Hospital. The incident is said to have arisen after a dispute over some Rastas tres-
lowed unnecessary license, he thought, yes ; he even volunteered the infor-
passing on others' "territory" to peddle marijuana. Then early this month Marabella
Rastas had their fight during which five shacks were razed and several men were mation that people he knew were wondering whether a ''police state" was not
chopped. One of them is still in a serious condition at the San Fernando Hospital. in the making. " But is dem Rasta fault."
A marijuana-using acco untant said that he felt two "cultures" had divided
Later on Monday morning, a bomb exploded at Skinner Park. It had been Trinidad: one , using and trafficking in marij uana, welded together by police
placed in one of the steel drums used to support a parading platform, under oppression, comprised up to 30 percent of the population. Rastafari was their
the area where the Carnival Development Committee judges sat. No one was voice. The other, based on fear of the fi rst, craved more police .
hurt. But for the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday a police light airplane In summary, it may be said that the ganja complex had created, in the decade
circled over the Carnival crowds, and news flashes reported that Deputy since its revival, a climate which has enabled opposing class feelings to expose
Commissioner of Police Randolph Burroughs of the Flying Squad was in it. themselves. The Carnival events illustrated how much of San Fernando's mid-
The news flashes discouraged many spectators and revelers from coming out, dle-class opinion rests on irresponsible j ournalism, hearsay, naive belief in the
but a few hours after the event, San Fernandians in the park were wondering police, and prejudice . There were no institu tions to remind journalism
112 Chapter 5 The Danja Complex, Rastafari, Public Opinion. and Law Enforcement 11 3

of its responsibilities , to critique abuses by the police, or capable of finding out It is difficult to gauge how extensive these abuses were. In San Fernando,
facts in an objective manner; at least, they had not been deployed when it came there were eight policemen who dealt regularly with marijuana raids and were
to issues concerning the unemployed and the low-income classes generally. members of the new Rasta Squad, formed before the Camival to deal with an
Thus, while marijuana itself was accepted fairly generally as innocuous, anticipated insurrection . Complaints of extortion had been heard against all of
the multifaceted ganja complex and its adherents were repressed. Vagrancy them; block leaders reported being propositioned by all , to sell their ganja.
laws were reinforced , empowering the police to pick up "suspicious" persons. What seemed verifiable among these charges. was that the officers act piece-
Mental health authorities made marijuana the cause of a wide variety of psy- meal , if at all : they formed no organi zed unit to control supply and distribution .
chosocial maladies referred to them. Squatters faced demolition squads. For the San Fernando Rastafari, these events speak for themselves. They
These measures all targeted Rastafari. The announcement in the newspapers are wondering how best they might circum vent the police in turn.
soon after Carnival , stating the government's intention to buy secret weapons
for national security purposes, thus appeared ominous, indicative of the di- RASTAFARI AND THE PEACEFULNESS
rection in which events are likely to move. OF THE MARIJUANA TRAFFIC
In the ten years during which the ganja complex was being diffused, the po-
lice had emerged as a right-wing force in Trinidad , much favored by business- While the target of so much public vituperation stirred up principally by cyn-
men, professionals, and their government employers. On account of their tight, ical police officers and an irresponsible press, Rastafari had in fact curbed
first against Black Power and striking workers, and then against ganja and Rasta- tendencies inherent in any illegal business toward the settlement of disputes
fari, they had acquired enormous powers over the working classes as a whole. by violence, and had replaced them with an ideology, derived from the Old
Official police operations in the matter of marijuana may be briefly sum- Testament, which enjoined c ircumspection and patience. and surrendered
marized. In 1966. there were 18 arrests, and only 17 pounds of marijuana judgment and punishment to Almighty Jah. 1n Trinidad, the injustice of the
were seized; in 1971,2 10 convictions and 3,500 trees destroyed. By the first police campaigns was not lost on many residents of low-income neighbor-
six months of I 974, arrests and seizures had surpassed total figures for 1973 hoods. Indeed , they provided protection for Rastafari marijuana distributors
and 1974: 545 men , 32 women , 440 pounds of cured ganja, 58 1,960 trees. Af- and their selling locales, protection w ithout which these businesses could not
ter 1974 , as Rastafarians began to appear. arrests, raids on Rastafari com- have survived.
munes, and raids on planters were daily reported . Rastafari discovered in the Of course, there were a few occasions when Rastafari marijuana distribu-
countryside were shot: by February 1978. the total dead of these "guerrillas" tors resorted to violence. Perhaps in a lesser proportion than in the general
was 25. (At least 33 men. however, have been shot in connection w ith pre- population , some Rastafari were still jealous of unfaithful wives or filled with
venting marijuana cultivation and sales.) hatred against their lovers, and acted violently. The single example described
U noff icial police operations with respect to marijuana were more difficult in this chapter, however, had been fomented by the police.
to uncover. It is difficult to dec ide , for example, whether the police battle
against gue rrillas, who are more often than not marij uana cultivators, is mo- Many of the puzzles posed in this chapter were solved in 1986, when there-
tivated by a desire not to eliminate planting or revolutionary activities, but to port of a commission, appointed by the government to investigate drug traf-
control planters . What is known is that individual police officers have had ficking in Trinidad and Tobago, named Deputy Commissioner of Police Ran-
arrangements with planters whereby the latter were protected in exchange for dolph Burroughs as a major drug distributor, who had been heavily involved
money, marijuana, liquor, and game. Trinidadians consider it a sign of statu ~ in cocaine smuggling and trafficking since 1980 (Scott 1986) .1t now appears
(wealth and connections) to put a variety of game on the dinner table: agoutt that some of his pre-1980 activities, recorded in this chapter, were attempts to
(a forest hare), tatou (armadillo), quenk (wild boar), manicou (a tree-dwelling wipe out marijuana cul tivation and use , to weed out several targeted mari-
marsupial, and deer. These meats are usually prepared in fiery curries, fla- juana-selling blocks and locations, and to prepare the scene for the introduc-
vored with coconut, habanera (Scotch bonnet) peppers, and thyme. tion of cocaine trafficking, which he then apparently dominated. He was
Again it is difficult to prove whether the police persecution of some blocks aided by certain persons described in this research, although to further iden-
rather than others rests on chance only. It is known that some of the officers who tify them would be to violate the confidentiality they had enjoyed with the re-
receive marijuana from planters also have c ity operators who sell it for them. searcher. Perhaps affected by the special animus against marij uana which the
11 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Reagan administration and Nancy Reagan bore, Burroughs had not engaged
in the marijuana traffic before 1980 except as executioner and scourge. Al- The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn:
though the commission had blamed him for the extent of cocaine and crack
use and distribution in Trinidad, he had resigned and migrated to the United The Rise and Fall of the Marijuana
States before the report could be presented in Parliament. His was a grim
legacy. In the 1980s, cocaine smoking virtually supplanted marijuana. Addic-
Complex and the Advent of Cocaine
tion to crack became widespread. Blocks disbanded, and Rastafari was ener-
vated and diminished. Finally. the ganja complex, fearsome perhaps because
of its very antiquity, or because it had stimulated social, cultural, economic,
cultural, and political passions in human hearts across a span of at least 5,000
years , was undermined and once again (temporarily) disjoined.

All roads in the Caribbean - of individuals, capital , resources, political

power, and value generally-lead to the United States of America, the core
nation of the world system of which Trinidad and Tobago is a peripheral part
(Wallerstein 1974), and it was in Caribbean immigrant communities in the
United States, such as Brooklyn, that the ganja complex and Caribbean mar-
ijuana economy, portrayed in their provincial forms on the home islands in
the preceding chapters, attained their fullest flowering. It was in the United
States also that th is researcher witnessed the hemispheric waning of the mar-
ijuana economy after 1981, although by that time the ganja complex had be-
come a permanent addition to American metropolitan culture.

A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE CARIBBEAN DIASPORA

Persons of Caribbean ancestry have been settling abroad since the 1500s,
when the islands were reached by E uropeans and colonized by them. The first
migrants were European, or the islands-born children of the European offi-
cers , merchants, farmers, adventurers , and indentured laborers who had mi-
grated there.
The migration of Africans from the Caribbean began in the very first years
of slavery, when Africans were forcibly brought to the islands to labor in agri-
culture. Sizable communities grew in London, Bristol , Paris, and Amsterdam.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , English-speaking Caribbean
Africans crisscrossed the Caribbean Sea restlessly, and communities grew
in Panama, where the immigrants had gone to build the Panama Canal , and
in Honduras, Venezuela, and Colombia. English-speaking islanders settled

11 5
 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 117
11 6

in distinct enclaves in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, whi le Martini- plex, the young Caribbean Africans featured in this book, accomplished this
quans and Guadelou peans (together with white French estate owners) fled task. Thus, Malcolm X described how he bought loose marijuana in the 1940s
to the E nglish-speaking islands during periods of revolution and unrest in from merchant seamen and sold it as reefers (tiny cigarettes) to an esoteric co-
France. Eventually, kinship ties united families throughout the archipelago . terie of musicians and clubgoers in Harlem. His daily profits exceeded $50:
Parti cularly close bonds grew in the eastern Caribbean between such islands Both Sammy and I knew sorru' merchant seamen and others who could supply me
as Trinidad, Grenada , St.Vincent , and Barbados. with loose marij uana. And musicians. among whom I had so many good contacts,
Caribbean islanders had been migrating to the United States in steadily in- were the hea11iest consistent market fo r reefers. And then. musicians also used the
creasing annual tlows since the 1960s. Indeed, migration to the United States heavier narcotics. if I ·wanted to graduate to them. That would he more risky. !Jut also
from the English-speaking Caribbean islands had been noted since the early more money. Handling hemin and cocaine could earn one hundreds of dollars a day,
1900s. Before the Depression, about 250,000 had settled in Harlem and Brook- hut it required a lot of experience with the narcotics squad fo r one to be able to last
long enough to make anything.
lyn and had earned a reputation for hard work and entrepreneurial ability
I had been around long enough either to know or to ~pm instinctively m ost regu-
(Thomas-Hope 1976). When the Depression came, however, many returned
lar detectives and copl·, though not the narcotics people. And among Small 's veteran
home. During the 1940s and 1950s, migrants traveled to Britain and Europe, hustler regu/an, I had a variety of potentially helpful contacts. This w£u important
where the postwar recovery absorbed them readily as workers. and onl y a small because just as Sammy could get me supplied with marijuana, a large fa cet of any
contingent arrived in this country. They were mostly professionals . hustler's success was knowing where he could gel help when he needed it. The help
In the 1960s. however, migration to the United States resumed, and its scale could involv(! police and detectives-as well as higher ups. Bur I hadn 't y(' t reached
surpassed the earlier migratory waves. Twin factors accounting for the high that stage. So Sammy staked me, about $20. I think it was. Later that same night, I
tide were the achievement of political independence by many islands and the knocked at his door and gave him back his money and asked him if I could lend him
some. I had gone straight from Sammy's to a supplier he had m entioned. I got just a
Hart-Cellar Immigration Reform Act of 1965. The provisions of the reform
small amount of marijuana, and I got some of the paper to roll up my own sticks. As
legislation improved the balance of migration between the eastern and western they were only about the si::.e of stick matches, I was able to make enough of them so
hemispheres. and allowed up to 20,000 islanders from each independent state- that, after selling them to musicians I knew at the Braddock Hotel, I could pay back
hood to migrate annually. At the same ti me , high rates of unemployment and Sammy and have enough profit to be in business. And those musicians, when they
inflation, resulting from the implementation of U .S.-directed modernization saw their buddy. and their fan, in business: "My Man.' " " Craz}; Red!"
and development plans in the region. sparked abundant motivations to migrate In every band, at least ha!f of the musicians smoked reef ers. I 'm not going to Jist
(Hamid 1980; Koslofski 1967). U.S. Immigration and Naturalization statistics names: I 'd have to include some of those most prominent then in popular music, even
a number of them around today. In one case. every man in one of the ban d.~ which is
show that more than one million West Indians arrived in the 1960s alone (INS
still famous was on mar(juana. Or again, any number of musicians could tell } 'O LI
1970). Many others settled in Canada (Chaney and Sutton 1979). who I nwan when I .my that one of the most famous singers smoked his reefers
The events to be described before apply not only to New York City and through a chicken thighbone. He had smoked so many through the bone that he could
Brooklyn , but throughout the Caribbean diaspora, or wherever there were siz- j ust light a match before the empty hone, draw the heat through, and get what he
able Caribbean immigrant communities. called a ''contact " high.
I kept turning over my profit. increasing my supplie~·. and I sold reefers like a wild
man. I ~·carcely .flept: I was ~vherever musicians congregated. A roll of money was in
my pocket. Every day I cleared at least fifty or sixr.,; dollars. In those days (or.for that
MARIJUANA IN NEW YORK CITY
matter these days). this was a j(Jrtune to a sevemeen-.v ear-o/d Negro. I felt, for the
BEFORE THE GANJA COMPLEX .first time in my life, that greatj(!eling offree! Suddenl)\ / was the peer of the other
young hustlers I had admired.
It should be noted that the ganja complex , in taking root in the contemporary
Americas and Europe, had supplanted nascent home-grown cannabis cultures. Claude Brown described a slightly brisker marijuana traffic in Central
For example , in many of the low-income minority neighborhoods of New Harlem in the 1950s (Brown 1963), while Oscar Hijuelos identifies Latino
York City where Caribbean migrants settled in the 1970s, many Circles of musicians as the marijuana smokers and distributors of Spanish Harlem (Hi-
African Americans and Latinos smoked marijuana, but distribution had not juelos 1991) in the 1960s . Thus, marijuana-using variants of "deviant" sub-
been organized systematically until the new culture bearers of the ganja com- cultures had thrived among New York C ity's "invisible" populations.
11 !; The Gm~ja Complex in Bruoklyll 11 9
Chapter 6

Yet other variants of a marijuana-using culture emerged as a dramatic turn Coming into Los Angeles ,
Bringing in a couple of keys [kilos]
in the history of the plant in the Ameri cas was taken from 1965 to 1970.
Don't touch my bag, if you please
when the proportion of youths smoking marijuana rose from under 5 percent
Mr. Customs-man.
to over 50 percent in the continental U nited States alone. Young European
Americans accounted principally for the precipitous increase. Several fac- described the method by which plenty of marijuana was supplied.
tors enabled them to do so. If unemployment, political instability. migration. By 1970 the typical marijuana smoker was like ly to be an urban college grad-
and cultural erosion in countries like Trinidad an d Jamaica (or areas such as uate in his early twenties (Goode 1970). and a survey in 1979 indicated that 6S
the American inner c itie s) were one side of the coin of moderni zation and percent of those aged eighteen to twenty-five had used the drug (Fishburne et al.
development initiati ves (see chapter 2), the o ther side was the longest unin- 1979), including 69 percent of European Americans , 62 percent of other ethnic
terrupted period of un checked economic growth fo r several social classes in groups and 73 percent of those who attended college. Thus, not only had mari-
the United States. Consumer spending grew, and a spirit of consumerism, at- juana use undergone a precipitous increase among youth in the 1960s and earl y
taching great status value to the range and luxury of belongings , flourished. 1970s. but the demography of usc had also shifted considerably since the 1930s
More than 76 million babies- almost one-third of the current population- when minority populations comprised the bulk of users. Indeed, the increased
were born between 1946 and 1964; indeed , more babies were born between risk of arrest for affluent young European Americans was a critical element in
1946 and 1952 than had been born in the previous thirty years (Jones 198 1) . the passage of laws decriminalizing marijuana in several states during the 1970s
T hese privileged American youths entered college in record numbers in the (Galliher et al. 1974; Galliher and Basilick 1979). 1
1960s. at the same time when college campuses were being po larized by the Young middle-class European American marijuana users contributed to sev-
c ivil rights movement and anti- Vietnam War protest. Indeed , unrest across eral countercultural complexes without developing a d istinctly marijuana-using
the globe - independence movements and occupations by the U.S . military subculture in the 1960s and 1970s. A principal reason might have been their fail -
in every region-added to the radical dispute in academia. Targeted o n the ure to fonn a self-supporting system of production. distribution and exchange of
one hand by merchandisers and advertisers attempting to draw the m through marijuana. Meantime. the ganja complex , supported by just such a system which
their s izable disposable income into the world of American consumerism, Caribbean African youths had created , tlo urished, invaded the other subcultures .
these you ng Americans were confronted o n the o the r hand by a knowledge and dominated them. 1n this book, the struggle in Trinidad between ganja and
of the tremendous costs by which that world was being supported. In re- madi-juana in chapter 7 represents the kind of political and cultural struggle
sponse, many mapped out countercultural lifesty les which signified their which was fought to vanquish these other marijuana use-complexes.
discomfort or disassociation. Of course, the novel lifestyles generated new
products and bus inesses , including intensified trafficking in illegal drugs.
Counterculturallifestyles from which young persons in the 1960s borrowed
were those of the bohemians of the 1950s , among whom the use of drugs THE GANJA COMPLEX IN BROOKLYN
(alcohol , amphetamine , and marij uana) was an aid in heightening the
senses, gai ning self-transcendence, and creating artistic work. When the In the preceding chapters, frequent mention was made of the increasing migra-
style of the bohemians was reworked to inc lude political stances and ac- tion of San Femandians to the United States. ln particular, several block leaders
tivism , marijuana emerged as the predominant symbol of protest (Gitlin who traveled abroad, or maintained regular business contact with both legitimate
19H7; Polsky 1967). and illegitimate enterprises in the United States. were identified . For example , in
The enormous demand for marijuana among European Americans , and the chapter 2 , Constable recalled Phyhss, who had migrated with her entire.family
fact that it could be grown anywhere, stimulated the emergence of a wide in the 1960s. In chapter 4 , Gentleman Slim was mentioned en route to New
range of distribution arrangements. Young European American indi viduals York , where he had established a marijuana-selling "gates" in 1973. These San
forged a ll kinds of contacts wi th citizen s from many foreign nations to secure Fernandians were only a few of the many who settled in Brooklyn.
supplies of marijuana, and satisfied a large part of their demand through these As Caribbean communities were established in such places as Brooklyn in
idiosyncratic efforts. Altho ugh organized crime groups in New York also im- New York City, the opportunities for illegal migration grew (Kasinitz 1992) .
ported and distributed m arijuana, the snatch of Arlo Guthrie's song, Many Caribbean islanders now regard Brooklyn as the largest Caribbean island.
,.
,j
120 Chapter6 The Gar!ia Complex in Brooklyn 12 1

Daily contact with the islands is maintained, and many stores and groceries are use in the marijuana economy. In New York, several locations-abandoned
Caribbean-owned and specialize in Caribbean goods. Caribbean voluntary or lofts and buildings-served as lodgings and meeting places. In some loca-
political associations abound. The undocumented visitor is thus absorbed tions the young migrants formed communes wh ich lasted several years. Par-
quickly by friends. employers, and other support which screen him from detec- ticipants were from the pan-Caribbean region, and they shared food and the
tion . By 1970, neighborhoods on the Caribbean islands were experiencing the costs of upkeep of the dwelling places . A variety of interpersonal and sexual
catastrophic impact of the continuing legal and illegal migration to the United relations obtained among individual members. At the same time, relation-
States. In some Trinidadian neighborhoods, for example, such as the one de- ships were marked strongl y by ind iv idualism. competition , and violent strug-
scribed in chapter I , the entire generation of productive adults (those born in the gles fomented by joblessness and the struggle over petty, income-generating
1930s and 1940s) had gone abroad in search of work, leaving behind aging "hustles." The groupings of young Caribbean males and females in unautho-
grandparents and unemployed, delinquent/truant adolescents. Houses had fallen rized housing soon excited curiosity and hostile attention from the police
into disrepair, while hardship and hard feelings tore occupants apart within them. (New York Police Department 1985).
At the same time , in the United States , the migrants themselves were strug- For many other young West Indians, the Vietnam War served as the bridge
gling to settle into the host community. While a few had achieved success in into American life . Shunted out of school by poor grades, many who retained
the professions and business, the majority adapted to the changing post-1965 educational ambitions were lured into the armed forces. Their first taste of
New York economy, making significant inroads in the burgeoning low-paid America was savored in the jungle combat zones of Southeast Asia. They
service sector (Kasinitz 1992) and the informal sector. It would take them un- were simultaneously introduced to marijuana and other drugs. Patron's ac-
til the mid-1970s to make the remittances and the annual rerum trips neces- count. given below, is typical of several reported in this research by veterans.
sary to salvage what remained of neighborhoods on the home islands, and to In the end , as Patron indicates below, they too did what their siblings, cousins,
improve their lives materially in the United States (Thomas-Hope 1976; and friends on the islands and in New York City had done: they turned to mar-
Chaney and Sutton 1979; Hendricks 1978). ij uana not only for recreation, but also as work and self-definition.
An early sign of the gradual accommodation of migrants to New York City
was registered when they began sponsoring the immigration of younger de-
pendents to the United States (Immigration and Naturalization Service 1980). BLOCKS IN BROOKLYN
The latter were frequently the identical young persons who had been occupy-
ing neglected family property in the Caribbean , and their removal from that Blocks formed in New York City in the same way they had in San Fernando. The
unhappy situation introduced them to another here (Chaney and Sutton 1979). major difference, of course, was that the amounts of money to be made. in top-
A parent who had finally managed to secure permanent employment, and who valued U.S. currency, were vastly greater. Other critical differences were that
was saving to afford a home away from Brooklyn and to renovate family Caribbean marijuana distributors served a polyethnic clientele in New York City.
holdings on the islands, had little patience with a young man or woman who and that they were becoming rich and powerful in a milieu in which several eth-
had been a school dropout at home, was destined to be a dropout in New nic groups vied for wealth and power. The belief, however, that marijuana-
York , or was too old fo r school and had no employable skills. From grand- selling in New York City was different because it was dominated by long-lived
parents' disapproval at home, therefore, young people plunged directly into criminal organizations, is not su pported by any ethnographic evidence. For ex-
conflict with parents in New York. ample, exactly the same period of experimentation among neophytes in the traf-
As a result, many you ng people were disillusioned about the worth of fam- fic culminated in the formation of blocks. Patron gave the following overview of
il y ties altogether (Hamid 1991a). Gradually they constructed a life of their marij uana selling in Aatbush from 197 1 to 1991:
own which featured a migratory experience quite different from their elders'.
I am 48 years of age roday. and hail from a small village in norlh Trinidad. Wh en
In addition to yearly visits to the islands, they charted a unique migratory I was growing up. church, school, and community controlled your life. and if you
itinerary which included residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands, California, were outside of !hem, you were a renegade. My three older brothers and my sis-
Florida, Texas, Montreal, and Toronto. At each stopover point, they found ter excelled in those areas: one brother is today a senior administralor at Baruch
short-term employment as messengers, store clerks, or unskilled manual la- College [Cily University of New York}, my sister owm· her own j(zrm in Florida,
borers. Later, the unique itinerary and work experience were put to lucrative all of them are doing well. Because I was the youngesT, I think l got estranged
122 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Bmoklyn 123

from all of that. I loved to play pan [the steel drum], and would be out of the Then I made contact with some Jewish kids who lived in Park Slope fa nearby section
house after school from an early age. My mother used to beat me a lot for that, of Brooklyn] and who were Ketring bales of smoke f rom Florida. Panama Red, Colom-
but then she gave up on me. When I was doing well in marijuana, I sent monev to bian Gold at $200 a pound. I think they were the children of people who had mol'ed
her in Trinidad, and those hig barrels f 100-pound containers used hy exporters { from here earlier. and 110w the children were coming bark. and they knew how to deal
full <~( goods. I think I am stilltrving to pro1•e to them that I am not the nohodv with black people. Or they knew how to get along with West Indians, because Ameri-
they had me down as. can blacks [African Americans I were largely cut out of this marijuana thing. So they
Anyway. / was isolatNI and have always rl'mained a loner. Now when my mother were 8iving me smoke, and there were all the.H' shops I could sell it to .
.w ys that she wants to .H'e me serried down and married, I think to mvse/f that "you By thiJ· time, it was all about stores [blocks J in selling marijuana. Mo.1·tly Rasta-
never trained me up j(Jr that. you never hothen'd to see that / was educated. you gave fari. Apartment.~ had died out, hecause nobody could be bothered to go up to some-
up on all <~I' thm:· body 's apartment j(Jr marijuana. It 11'as more pro.f(~.uional with stores, and since
I Jirst started dealing in marijuana af'ter I had come to this country, and while I everybody had their stujfout there, you had to get your stufj'out too. I had no thouKht
was stationed at the army hase in Texas durinK 1969 to 1971. Texas was where we <~l the police then. and I used to travel around with 30 pounds of manjuana in the
were mostly, hut we mo~·ed around to bases in other states too. Mexico wa.1· close by, trunk [<if a car]. dropping some off at this store, picking up some of the money and
everybody was smokinK at the base, so I started selling it. Guys were into all J'or~s selling a date for the re.ft, leaving more in the next store. and then on to the next
of drugs then. and especially acid. In fact, I was in a CID (or lntelli~:ence) unit. and store. I was living good, I sent lots of money to my brothers and my mother, I sent
we used to have gallons of cheap wine Jpiked with acid. and f ellas used to trip all her lms of goods. I helped out my children and their mothers.
day long. We would smoke marijuana and trip on acid. It wa.1· a racial thing too, he- I was living luxuriously, but the real money flowed in durinK the four months when
cause the whire boyJ· wouldn't let us hanK with them. and tlwse places [7exaJ' and I had my own store with a partner. You remember I had said that the white hoys had
the orher southern stares] were pretty prejudiced so we couldn't leave the base, so drugs all along on Parkside Avenue. Well, there was one white boy with a ceramics
we kept to ourselves and gut high. store on Church Avenue, and he was going to sell me the store and all the stock bur
I came hark to New York in 1971, and arfirsr divided my time bNween Harlem then he OD 'ed on Parkside Avenue. Must have heen dope. But .finally we got a store
and Brooklyn, because I had close friends in both places. But all the people I on Parkside Avenue.
used to smoke marijuana with in Harlem were now into heroin, which the Italians But you know, money changes people and it spoilsfriend.fhips. 1t brinKS ahour evil.
in Easl Harlem were supplying to blacks and Hispanics. It was an overnight "Bosses" develop out l~( it. So I got out of that business after.fatling out with my part-
thing. a really rapid Jransformation, j ust like crack today, except that crack is ner. and I stayed out l!( stores and did a more discreet, wholesale business from my
more of a nighttime thing, while people got off on heroin during the day. But sud- apartment. To stay in the store would have turned m e into a gangster, into violence
denly people were either robbing and .ftealinx arul sticking up. or they were sell- and death, and I didn'tsee myselfg oing that way. It was less money because you are
ing the dope, or they were using. Three ways to f:O, and all three .full c~f violence dependent more on fast turnover, and when selling in pounds. you only made $25 or
and distrusl, hecause people's personalities had changed. Lois of guns were $50 on the pound. But you always had money in your pocket.
around. So eventually I decided to setlle in Brooklyn completely, 10 Ket a way .from
that scene. In San Fernando, it was to avoid the same temptation of gangsterism
I didn't have anything to do with drugs from 1971 to about 1975. /was more into (which had frightened Patron) that copartnership in marijuana distribution
family then. I never married. and 1 have a lot of children hy differenJ women, but I evolved into blocks, and submitted to the guidance of Rastafari. In those
was close to this one and the one child we had so far. 1 was into buying the first car. forms, copartners endured and prospered. The same path was followed in
and improving our quality of life, and by 1975 I was looking for a house, and she
Brooklyn. Blocks (or gates. as they were eventually called in New York City)
found one in Florida. Later. when the marijuana money was running, I helped her to
huy it. I explained to you that I 1•alue thar independence, hut ir's my house and I'm operated from a greater variety of locales in New York City than was possi-
always welcome there. But !hen. I had a good job as a clerk ar Morgan Guaranty, ble in the Caribbean. As earlier European American residents migrated to the
and on the side lines. I used to throw West Indian parties. I was more into family and suburbs, they left behind not only apartment buildings and homes , but also
the West Indian community you could say. I used to rent a basemem for about $60. commercial stock. For retailing marijuana, therefore, di stributors could
pay a DJ another $60, and put in abm1t $150 worth offood and drink. Then I'd print choose not only among apartments, but also fro m a wide assortment of store-
up flyers and distribute them to people in the street, or leave them in shops. And I front operations (grocery stores, candy stores, clothing boutiques, record
would take away $800 the ni~:ht of the party.
stores, and crafts workshops). Rastafari revived these properties in Brooklyn
I got back into marijuana around 1977. I had lost touch with Harlem, but now I saw
the same sort of heroin scene- with the guns, the stickups, and violence- beginning to
and sought them out in the other boroughs of the city.
happen on Fulton Street [Brooklyn] to West Indians. A whole lor of little shops had At first, Rastafari were dependent on EuropeanAmerican suppliers. Buying
sprouted up there, selling smoke [marijuana]. dope {heroin}, coke {cocaine/. whatever. marijuana at $350 to $500 per pound (from individuals like Patron), they
124 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 125

resold it in " nic kel bags" (3 .5 grams sold for $5), clearing at least $300 in Although Brooklyn Rastafari preferred to distribute supplies grown on the
profits per pound. The typical block sold more than ten pounds in a week . As islands by their coreligionists, their love of marijuana impelled them to col-
Rastafari became richer and more powerful , however, and as they practiced lect exotic cannabis varieties and preparations from around the world . Sin-
their religion more strictly, they sought to restrict the traffic as much as pos- semillas were home-grown in every state of the United States . Some were
s ible to Rastafari alone. They thus succeeded in ''Caribbeanizing'' a sizable grown indoors in the coldest states, using innovations on the basic cultiva-
come r of the trade. Several brethren made return trips to Grenada, Trinidad , tio n techniques. For example. hydroponics . which utili zed indoor space, ar-
and Jamaica, stimulated culti vation on these islands. and then assumed roles tificial lighting . and a water-borne nutrition syste m, produced pote nt strains.
as exporters - importers to the United States. Canada, and Europe . The ex- Rarities such as purple Hawaiian kona buds , or the black buds of West
clusive reliance on European American suppliers, or on anonymous cultiva- Africa, were highly prized. Rastafari also sought out the dozens of shades of
tors in far-di stant comers of the world, was broken. color and potencies of hashi sh and hash oils whic h were produced in the
Sinsemill a, introduced in the mid-1970s , boosted profits enormously. A Middle and Far East , and the fabled marij uanas (''Thai stic k") of Thailand
pedigreed female plant, it required complete removal from males, or from and Vietnam.
pollination . Plants were carefully nourished as a seedling, then transplanted
in the ground, a few roots spaced apart over a wide acreage. A regime of daily
irrigation and exposure to bright sun followed for nine months. Denied polli - REINVESTMENTS IN BROOKLYN
nation , the female plants produced buds and flowers so concentrated with per-
fume and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that crystals of the latter were In Brooklyn, Rastafari found many more ways to invest their marijuana rev-
plainly visible, twinkling , to the naked eye. Protection from pollination also enues in accordance with their religiopolitical beliefs . The most obvious was
increased the weight of the dense buds and tlowers and prevented weight loss renovation of the selling location itself. Not onl y did they revive conventional
to seeds. Planters manicured the mature buds, snipping off supernumerary locations like groceries and candy stores, but they installed new ones like
leaves without THC content, and fetched $ 1,400 to $ 1,800 a pound fo r the health-food stores. Indeed, the health-food movement in Brooklyn, and in
finished product, which was packaged and sealed in polyurethane bags low-income minority neighborhoods throughout New York C ity, which in
(Boyle 1984). 1978 featured seminars. workshops, and myriad informal consumer groups,
Young Caribbean Africans , in their unique itinerary up the archipelago and was pioneered by the health-food stores Rastafari opened . Several outlets for
across the United States (see above), were on hand in California and Oregon cooked vegetarian food (restaurants, snack bars , and curbside stalls) fol-
as plentiful harvests of domestic sinsemilla were reaped for the first time in lowed, which provided a training ground for R astafari women eager to try out
the early 1970s. Some eventually apprenticed themselves to "hippie" (Euro- an evol ving Caribbean vegetarian cuisine on the public .
pean American) growers in those states, and when they received in-kind pay- Stores from which marijuana was sold also displayed other Rastafari nov-
ments of marijuana or preferential rates, liaised between the West Coast elties produced by talented coreligionists. Matos's associate Opinion had
growers and Brooklyn gates where $2,800 to $3,300 per pound was willingly been ex pert at leather crafting in San Fernando, and after emigrating to
paid for the aromatic , superpotent marijuana . Others returned to the islands to Brooklyn, had sold marijuana from a store where he also displayed his cre-
teach eager corel igionists the methods of intensive cultivation. Fewer plants ations, such as bags, belts, and boots. In 1994, the store has been greatly ex-
of sinsemilla earned more than many more plants grown commercial or plan- panded and re novated , and he also sells Rastafari paintings, reggae albums,
tation-style , and they were also easier to conceal from police surveillance. and T-shirts handpainted with Rasrafari designs . On a busy commercial av-
The outcome was a successful transplant of the techniques on the islands, and enue , it stands next door to a jewelry store, where Shark, cofounder wi th Pa-
from Jamaica, Grenada, and Trinidad especially, supplies of local sinsemillas tron of one of the earliest Brooklyn blocks, carves earrings in the shape of
were soon forthcoming. In Brooklyn, retailers sold a gram for $ 10 (a "dime Africa or Nefertiti from fourteen-carat gold. Smoking paraphernalia , such as
bag".) Not only was the greater return attractive, but so was the accounting: chalices (water pipes hand-crafted from coconuts), roac h clips, and Rastafari
a pound, or 454 grams, was to be sold for exactly $4,540. The greater ability insignia of c loth and leather were also sold. Stores also di splayed the work of
to foresee and manage revenues enabled Rastafari to engage in more effective seamstresses and tailors - African gowns, quilts, wall-hangings-as they
financial planning . were made, or commissioned them.
126 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brookly11 127

Homes and real estate in Brooklyn were also purchased. Before migrating use of marijuana as a Rastafari sacrament. Implicit in the plea is legal recog-
from San Fernando , Botts (see chapter 3 ), who later entered cocaine and nition of Rastafari as a bona fide religion .
crack distribution successfully, had declared that his ambition was to buy a The Twe lve Tribes of Israel emerged as another beacon of Rastafari arts
prope rty in the $300,000 to $3 50,000 range for each of his thirteen children. and cultivation near Fulton Street (Lewis 1993). An Inner Circle of Rastafari
In 199 1, he had purchased eleven properties in Trini dad and Brooklyn and (Brookl yn) was a lso established in Crown He ights. Dreadlocks. reggae mu-
was looking for a twelfth in Manhattan. sic . the un ique intonations of Jamaican speech , made even more impenetra-
A lot of money was di verted to the Caribbean islands, where agricultural ble in the deliberate atte mpt to invent a separate Rastafari dialect, and. of
projects were launched. The best-known of these brought 1.600 acres under course, the message of African iden ti ty and self-sufficiency formed a package
cultivation in St. Anns, Jamaica, and offered employment to many Rastafari of symbols which proved irresistible to young African Americans in New
fami lies. Rastafari directly and indirectly invigorated lines of trade with the is- York City's inner-city neighborhoods. Young males loved to affect these dia-
lands other than marijuana. For example, as health-food stores and restaurants critics, while young women fell in love with the brethren. Although African
offering Caribbean-vegetarian fare multiplied in New York City, suppliers of Americans were effec tively barred from the least involvement with marijuana
island-grown foodstuffs flourished . At that time, tropical produce well known distribution, and functioned only as consumers, their warm regard for Rasta-
in the United States, such as bananas, pineapples. and mangoes, was handled fari and reggae music would eventuall y have such outcomes as rap music in
by the giant multinational food corporations, including United Fruit and Del the 1980s. when African Americans d id enter the drug trade as cocaine d is-
Monte. Smaller-scale entrepreneurs now bought shipments of the more ethnic tributors.
agricultural goods like nutmeg, allspice, and other spices . seamoss. cocoa. The marij uana economy demonstrably restored vitality and prosperity to
Spanish thyme, Scotch bonnet peppers (habaneros) , pigeon peas, okras . neighborhoods which had suffered di sintegration on account of moderniza-
callaloo (the greens of a tuber, the dashcen, which are pureed) , Jamaican yams, tion and de velopment initiatives. Embi ttered relationships among the young
and pumpkins from the primary producers on the islands, airlifted them to distributors and users were healed, and a new re ligion enfolded them; while
Kennedy Airport in New York City, and distributed them in a few days through- the relationship between them and their parents improved when marijuana
out shops in the region from U-Haul or privately owned trucks. The early im- revenues bought Mom and Pop stores and other property for the latter.
port and distribution of fresh coconuts remained another exclusive Rastafari do- ln Brooklyn, at the level of interethnic relations, marij uana usc and distri-
main, until Latino entrepreneurs began airlifting them from Spanish-speaking bution also served an integrati ve fu nction. Rastafari confo rmed well with and
islands such as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic . provided influential symbols for the thrust which Caribbean politicians ,
Finall y, marijuana revenues were spent on a wee kly newspaper and two power-brokers and entrepreneurs ("Babylon!") were mounti ng to develop a
schools, one of which remains in operation and is top-ranked among Brook- Caribbean constituency or market. Rastafari. its roots in marijuana cultiva-
lyn primary schools. Reggae bands were sponsored . Tuition for Rastafari tion , distribution, and usc barely concealed, was a rall ying point in the search
women who stud ied nutrition , seamstressing, or education were paid. for a distincti ve Caribbean identity in the multiethnic milieu .

RASTAFARI IN BROOKLYN DECLINE OF MARIJUANA/ADVENT OF

COCAINE SMOKING (FREEBASE AND CRACK)
The greater wealth enjoyed by Brooklyn Rastafari enabled them to offer lav-
ish praises to Jah Rastafari. Several congregations with large me mbershi ps For most o f the 1970s, apartment buildings were maintained hy tenant rolls of
were formed. As each elaborated its own orthodoxy, debate and controversy low-paid African American and Caribbean African workers. At first they con-
were never in short supply in the Rastafari community at large. Some ideo- solidated their position , and marij uana distribution advanced them further to-
logical divisions in the com munity were indicated in chapter 4 . ward that end. Rastafari marijuana distributors, encouraged by their religio-po-
Among the congregations, the Ethiopian Coptic Church, fo unded by litical ideology as well as by the prudence which often accompanies arrival at
Brooklyn Rastafari but transplanted to Miami and Jamaica, is to be remem- middle age , bought the stores from which they sold marijuana and the many
bered for the case it is continuing to pursue in the U.S . courts, to legalize the other storefronts from which they had launched various forms of cottage in-
128 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 129

dustry. They also bought homes for themselves, their conjugal families, and portuntt1es in Flatbush (chiefly in the commercial strip which runs the
their parents. They lent a mighty shoulder, therefore, to the task of renovating length of major avenues , such as Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue, and
property and retarding abandonment. at the local hospitals or other state agencies) , and none at all in the study
In the 1980s, however. another stage of deterioration forced new upheavals site. where the bodega was owned by Yemenis and the pizzeria by Italian
in the local population. The demographic characteristics of Flatbu sh residents Americans from Bensonhurst.
changed agai n. On the one hand, many apartment buildings were rescued Patron, the forty-eight-year-old marijuana and cocaine distributor intro-
from abandonment and converted into coops and condominiums for middle- duced above, has successfull y survived two decades of drug distribution. Af-
income investors. But the remai ning bu ildings were further devalued , and an ter dramatic reversals of fortu ne and some brief periods of continuous good
increasing number of displaced fa milies, in-migrating from ruined proximate luck , he has on balance maintained himself with a constant fund of the inde-
sections of Brooklyn, was crammed into the habitable ones, where they were pendence and modest means he says he finds indispensable to his personal
forced to double-up or treble-up. Their next step. to be taken in the mid- sty Ie of life . About Flatbush, he recalls the following:
1980s, would be toward the shelters or into the streets, as the city 's home-
lessness crisis escalated. When I moved into Brooklyn in 1971. it was still white- mostly Jewish aru1 1talian.
It was as neighborhoods of apartment buildings throughout minority White doctors and nurses lived in the building l moved into, near King s County Hos-
Brooklyn and the city suffered greater decl ine that marijuana was replaced by pital. Where !live now, on Ocean ;h •e11Ue I F/achush]. was all white too. All the shops
cocaine hydrochloride powder. As Rastafari marijuana distributors were mz Church Avenue and Flatbush Avenue were Jewish or Italian: vegetable stores,
liquor stores, and so on. The white kids used to do drugs near Parkside Avenue: they
drawn into experimentation with cocaine distribution and use, the important
had acid, mescaline, coke, and marijuana there. There were vay fe~<.' blacb : lots <~f
function they had served as preservers of real estate was lost. West Indians had settled in Crown Heights. on this side of Nostrand Aw'llue, while
The example of Flatbush, a section of the borough of Brooklyn , illus- black Americans went down towards Fulton Street I Bedford-Stuyvesant/.
trates these transformations. It was the site of several research undertakings The n ei~:hhorho od really began to chan~:e around 1974. The whites started mov-
by the author. It is not very different from many other low-income neigh- ing to the maskirts, jilrther across Nostrand Avenue, or towards Sheepshead Bay. A
borhoods in cities across the United States , such as those named above, cer- lot moved out to Long Island. And blach [West Indians] started moving in f rom
tainly not in the gross parameters of inner-city deterioration. Evolving from Crown Hei~:hts, where buildings were being abandoned. A lot (~{ West Indians bought
a vi llage of prosperous fa rmsteads in the 1600s, when it was home to the up property, and then in the late 1970s, the_v too would start moving to Long Island,
or to the nicer houses going towards Coney Island Avenue.
first church and primary school in America, it has accepted successive
While alf <d' rhi~· was happening. services were being cut. When !lived nea r Kings
waves of immigrants continuously to the present day. Irish , Jewish , and Coullly Hospital, we had a doorman, two porters. an electrician. a super, painters.
Eastern European migrants came until the 1940s and establi shed stable and we had access to the landlord. Thin~:s got repaired faster and m ore profession-
communities of merchants , professionals , skilled , and manual laborers. ally. When I moved to Ocean Avenue in 1975, we had the same .w rt of staff: There
Spacious seven- and eight-room apartments in solidly appointed apartment was someone who washed and buffed the marble floors every day. so the place wa.~
buildings, none more than six fl oors high , as well as luxurious fami ly man- cleaner and smelled sweeter. Today, we have an untrained, low-paid super and none
sio ns. standing in extensive manicured grounds alo ng street afte r street of the other workers. Before. tlzere was a tap-mom next to the incinerator on each
floor. .for you to wash up the garbage pail b<jore taking it hack into the apartment,
lined w ith leafy elms, sycamores, and oaks, sheltered them. These mansions
hut th e taps and sinks have he<'n removed or are broken down, and no one has re-
are today the homes of European American federal judges, prominent doc- placed them. The place is a lot dirtier. After 1975. I think the city went into bank-
tors , and the heads of prestigious institutions in New York City and State . ruptcy under Mayor Reame, and that's when parks, sanitation, fire services, and so
Many politicians who represent Flat bush in the City Counc il and the State on suffered too.
Senate Iive here .
Three blocks eastward to Flatbush Avenue, however, a different fa te over- The substitution of marijuana by cocaine offers fu rther superlative proof of
took neighborhoods whe re most of the imposing apartment buildings stood . the argument that drug prohibition approaches to the drug problem- inter-
During the 1970s, large numbers of migrants arrived from the Caribbean diction , crop substitution , and street-level enforcement - make matters worse,
and the A merican South (principally the Carolinas), as European tenants even in the rare instances when they happen to be successful. Drug prohibi-
moved out rapidly for New York's more affluent suburbs, taking their busi- tion damaged marijuana distribution, but the end result, brought about in the
nesses with them. By the 1990s, there were few local employment op- context of urban decline , was to de liver users over to cocaine.
130 Chapter 6 The Gmzja Complex in Brooklyn 13 1

In 198 1 the plentiful supplies of marijuana flowing from every comer of the trying it out to see how people would like it. And that's how they created a market
world to America were interrupted by DEA-inspired campaigns (DEA 198 1). for another product. That's how we moved.fmm smoke to coke.
In the White House, the Reagan administration continued to target marijuana In /981. all that Panamarziar1 red and Colombian ~:old I commonly ami/able "com-
as the nation's number-one drug problem, although a ''bl izzard" of coca ine mercial" marijuanas] dried 11p, and up until 1984. Jamaican smoke and local sin-
semilla, selling at around $2.400 a pomul, made up the market. Then the price
had already blown in , and its intranasal use had become more in vogue. On
dropped 10 ahout $ 1.200. Alllltww /199 1/ it 's mostly American. ~·get it jhnn New
becoming prime minister of Jamaica in 1988 (on a pro-free-market conserva- Mexico and Texas, not from the Florida .fide a11ymore. and the cheape.1·t grade is abollf
tive ticket which had defeated opponent Michael Manley's socialist prospec- $1.600 a pound. Betrer smoke .l'el/sfor up to $5.000 a pound. Nmradays. it 's only a
tus), Edward Seaga rushed to Washington , promising in Kingston and at small set r~f'people who use mar(iuana. Some who tl.l'ed to tHe it were messed up 1vith
Kennedy Airport in New York to advise his mentor, Preside nt Reagan , that cocaine and don't touch any dru gs y,·/wtsoevet: And the guys who are selling it are
marijuana had made significant contributions to the isl and's economic life, inw it just like a hu.~ines.~ enterprise. They are the few. itz a few communities, who
and about the benign effects users experienced in the Caribbean . After his ar- stuck it out until this time. by avoidin).! jail and death. Y<m know. in this business. it 's
just one /iule mistake .fbr you to he sellf up for twenty years, or to lose you r life.
rival in Washington, however, no further mention was made of the brave plan,
Well. you know me and my half-brother had worked.f(~r the pa.1·t eight years to build
and joint U .$.- Jamaica army raids continued to uproot the island's marijuana up hi.1· healthJ<wd store and the marijuana he ran through there. In IY/'i8, I went down
fields. In Pakistan , joint military operations, coupled with attractive crop sub- to Florida .for a lorzg visit and came hack 10 find that people who worked with him had
stitution programs, effective ly reduced cultivation, but diverted both cultiva- ransacked my st~f'e -boxes. 01•er $100.000 was missing Then my half-brother got
tors and marijuana users to heroin production and injecting. killed in 1989. Some lillie coked-up f African- j American punks robbed the store and
In northern California and Oregon, raids were made on the farmers who shot him dead. There was nothing I could Ret from his family. So rzow I am really a
had pioneered sinsemilla culti vation and other innovative agricultural tech- liu/e broke. business is pretly slow, and I'm dm1·n to moving no more than a couple o.f
niques. Victims of the raids have described how full-scale military operations. pounds a month. That 's '"'hy I'm in colle~:e toda)\ trying 10 come back up. / think I am
still provirzg to mv mmher and .family rlrat I can make it. When the marijuana money
involving ground troops and helicopter backup, we re waged against them .
was running their way. they patted me orz the back and said I was being a m cces.r my
At the street level, distributors faced stepped-up police surveillance and ha- way. Now it's hack to "we always knew you couldn 't make it."
rassment which began with Operation Pressure Point (Zimmer 1987). Each Over the years, I have had dealings with cocaine, but marijuana was my princi-
precinct formed its own antidrug initiative (ranging from SWATs to drug ed- pal thing. At one time, I think it was in 1978, we had an af ier-hours club, with naked
ucation programs in the precinct's schools). In the Flatbush study site, a fa- dancers and .\' tuff near Fulton Street where we sold coke too. But I never liked the
vorite tactic was to arrest marijuana distributors en masse on Fridays , no mat- glitzy side of coke. It changes you, it altraCJs people to you, the most bealllijill women
ter how "strong" the arrests. Prisoners could expect to be incarcerated until at come to your apartmen t, hut you know it's not jbr you but for the coke. So it 's a false
thing and I didn't like it. Then again 1 use it too, and I still/ike to take a hit [smoke
least the following Monday. Even if the case was dismissed, the weekend
cocaine] to this da.v. So I know I would be sacrificin~ that pleasure if I wanted to sdl
sales - the heaviest of the week-would have been lost. If officers, while it. because it i.~ a very easy drug to mess up 011. w mi.~lumdle. I would ha ve to do
making the arrests, had also " inadvertently" destroyed costly equipment like some soul searching. afl(/ build up a f ence, and say this is money and product, and
bulletproof glass partitions, store gates and locks, deep freezes and refrigera- not for use. Because it could get sweet. but it always centers inward to ward.~ the self,
tors, or grocery stock, losses could be prohibiti ve. Seizures of marijuana and not outward. And tlzen l see what it does to peoplt>: how the most ambitious and the
arrests reached record levels. preuiest crumble. So I sell cocaine by the kilo whenever I see the connection. But
In Patron's account below, the police, like the Reagan White House and the since I made that $1.000 / told you abowlast November. I haverz 't done a coke deal.
I know where to get some, I could phone up people w gN rid of it, but I wouldn't go
DEA campaigners against marijuana in Colombia, were c uriously blind to the
looking, it would really just lzm•e to happen. lik1~ chat/as/ kilo, .for me to he involved.
steepl y rising production , distribution , and use of cocaine. He continues hi s
overview:
in 1981. I got an art store near Fulton Street. But then I got frustrated with the husts,
and jail and losing money. Ry that time, the p olice were coming down hard 0 11 mar- INCREASED PRODUCTION OF COCAINE
ijuana. l.ots of coke .~· h ops were starting up--one started up ri~:h t next to my mari-
juana/arts shop- but the police didn't touch them. They sold hal{ grams and grams. World cocaine production before the 1980s had remained small and did not ex-
for $50 and $ 100 . It made me .feel that they were rumzin& the cocaine, that they were ceed fourteen metric tons. Cultivation was concentrated exclusively in the
132 Chapter 6 111e Ganja Compte.{ in Brooklyn 133

eastern Andean provinces of Bolivia, although varieties of the shrub (Ery- one of the few markets existing at the time for intranasal cocaine, demand
throxylon coca), with extremel y low cocaine content, grew wild in lowland ar- for which was slowly growing throughout the late 1970s (Hamid 1992).
eas and in the Amazon Basin . In Bolivia, cultivation had been undertaken by Intranasal cocaine users recalled that the hea vily adulterated drug was sold
various traditional Andean highland nations in whose society and culture coca from table to table by distributors who visited the clubs. They would place
chewing had served important functions for several centuries (Antoni! 1978). dollar bills on the table, onto which the distributor measured out quantities
They sold surplus coca leaves in markets organized by Ladinos (Bolivians of worth $20 and $50. Although distributors excused themselves from time to
European extraction), who then supplied laboratories in Medellin and Calli, time to smoke cocaine (frcebase) in the bathrooms. their clientele was unin-
Colombia (Craig 1990; Antoni! 1978). Processed into cocaine hydrochloride terested in this method of administration. and the distributors indulged it as a
powder, it was transported out of Colombia and distributed in illegal markers private , very restrained and esoteric practice.
in Europe and America.
A Love Story
For most of the 1970s , intranasal cocaine use in America had been re- Landing a job as a corrections officer had ushered Bruno. a twenty-nine-year-old
stricted to the very affluent. Among minorities , only celebrities and rich pro- ( 1990) African American, into a luxurious world. When he cashed his check on pay-
fessionals could afford to use it; and in low-income, minority communities, days, he never ceased to marvel at the hefty package of $50 and $20 bills he recei ved
only the most successful , the criminals , and the distributors of other drugs. fro m the teller. He liked cashing hi s check just to feel that fistful of money, and his
For heroin distributors, for example. intranasal cocaine use was an ite m of wi fe Alice had given up the campaign to introduce him to the modern conveniences
conspicuous consumption, which indicated their status and style. of the banking system. She was content that at least some of his money was direct-
deposited in the credit union . She deposited her own salary in an account at the hank
In the early 1980s, however, cocaine became more easily available in the
in Manhattan where she had been working for the past fifteen years. and she issued
United States. Displaced by policies recommended to the regional govern- checks against it to pay the rent, the utilities bills. and the car repayments. Bruno , Al-
ments by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund , more farm- ice, and their daughter lived in one of the newest hou~ in g complexes in Crown
ers had relocated to the Eastern Andes, where they began to cultivate coca. He ights , and owned a souped-up 1979 Po nti ac Grand Prix.
As more cocaine was being manufactured in South America (Morales 1989), The family hadn 't always lived this comfortably. After Bruno's return from ser-
a new breed of middle-class European American criminal organizations sur- vice in Korea, a couple of years had passed before he was accepted for this job.
faced in the United States, to bring it to the noses of their fellows (Adler Those had been years of struggle while Bruno went to college. whe n they were sup-
ported by on ly Alice 's income. Bruno's childhood had been less stressful than these
1985).
years. Then , his mother had kept them in good clothes, fine food. and excitement
from her earnings as a madam.
Bruno had learned to appreciate the good feeling which holding large bundles of
AFTER-HOURS CLUBS cash conferred while he was searching fo r work. He once organizt:d a welfare fraud
scheme in which several female relati ves collected c hecks in the name of fi ctitious
As cocaine hydrochloride powder became more plentiful in New York City, women. Until he got scared and di scontinued it , the scheme paid him $50.000 in cash
locales for its more widespread appeal and glamorization were furni shed. In every month. With the money, Bruno bought stolen cars through a fri end's repair
the late 1970s , the chief recreational venue for affluent adults who favored shop, for reshipment to the South. He also lx>ught two " Mr. Softee" icc cream vans.
night life in low- to middle-income minority communities was the afterhours but his cousins ate up both icc cream and profits.
Bruno worked hard at his job. He was determined to become a captain in com:c-
club. They responded to the need for social outlets for an expanding immi-
tions, and enrolled for classes at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. City Uni-
grant populations, which also served as a vehicle of capital accumulation and
versity of New York, Serpico's alma mater. On Saturdays , he regularly attended semi-
political maneuvers. A demimonde which attracted dominant personalities nars conducted in the fi ve lx>roughs by the Police Academy. On the job, he won awards
from both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds, after-hours clubs were for punctuality. responsible conduct , and initiative , and was recommended for se veral
places where a successful heroin distributor could meet musicians, business- promotio ns . In 1979, with overtime , his biweekly take-home pay exceeded S I ,500."
men , and professionals. In his account, Patron had included in his club's am- Lots of disposable income provided the famil y with many of the conveniences
biance "sex shows and gambling." thought indispensable in an American home. In both Alice's and Bruno's extended fam-
Heroin distributors of those days recalled that in their circles, although ilies, there wasn't another young couple who boasted the well-serviced apartment, the
car, the home appliances, the computer for the daughter, the summer trips to the Car-
the price of cocaine was prohibitively high , it was usually bartered , or ex-
olinas or Flo rida, the clothes and jewelry. Members of the extended families visited
changed as a gift , rather than bought and sold. The clubs, however, provided
134 Chapler 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 135

often. and feasts of fried chicken. baked ham , potato salad. macaroni pie, greens, and Katie took Bruno by the arm and drew him to the bar, where she introduced him
Bruno's "secret re<.:ipe" banana pudding were prepared for them . with ample stocks of to Margaret, a tall , handsome African American wo man who owned the cl ub. T hey
beer, liquors. and - the current fam ily favorite - homemade pina colada (concocted chatted brightly for a long time . as Margaret served them complimentary d rinks.
with heavy doses of Bacardi 's Gold Reserve Rum) to wash them down. Respecting the Margaret had a lo ng-standing job as a personal secretary at a Park Avenue firm, and
tastes of e lderly mothers or aunts, staunch m ember~ of their churches all , <t few of the had an ex tensive network of sim ilarly placed friends. She had tried for years to or-
cousins slipped out now and then. to smoke marijuana in the stairwell or in the piny- gan ize congenial milieux for them to party and had r<:nted bars and ha lls or pri vate
grounds of the complex of apartment buildings . homes before ope ning the after-hours cl ub. As she co ntinued to work during the day,
Alice and Bruno also partied a lot. Their extended families supplied baby-sitters she came to the cl ub mainly to re lax and mi x with the crowd, but since her husband .
aplenty, leaving the couple wi th nights. weekends. and hol idays free. In Bruno's ex- Co rvette Shorty. was at the t ime in prison for distributing cocaine powder. she wa~
tended fami ly, there were many cousins of their age, and he had g rown up insepara- currently doing his job of managing it. She made an expression of annoyance when
bly from them . Ht: had even gone into the military and overseas with some male she mentioned the cocaine ch<trgcs. and co nfidt:d that there was still good "blow" on
cousins. Altho ugh a few had married and had fam ilies . and were rising . if less rap- the premises. She exchanged sm iles with Katie and moved down the bar to greet a
idly. in the way he was, many female cousins were supported on welfare payments, new ly entering party.
and were heavi ly involved with companies of similar women in their ne ighborhoods . From a table in the area be fort: the bar, two women had been waving to Katie. over
They drank abu sively, smoked marijuana , and there were a few who had been heroin the crowd of people sitting down at tables and getting up. and mouthi ng her name
injectors. Alice and Bruno accompanied them to house parties and to drinking par- above the noise of conversation and the music poundi ng from the rear. Katie and
tics which lasted the whole weekend, or vi sited bars and bar parties . They d anced a Bruno j o ined the two. who were together with another woman and two men. The two
lot, and listened to the popular music: Li onel Richie. the Commodores. Michael women were introduced as coll ege classmates of Kat ie's who worked at a theatrical
Jackson, and Diana Ross. These carousal s ended when everyone was totally drunk production company. and th<: other woman was a coworker; one of the men, in his
and blacked-out. late forties, was the company\ manager, the other man was a lawyer. engaged to
Over time. Bruno found that the appeal of these leisure hours was wearing thin . Katie's classmate . A waitress too k their orders .
Maybe the romantic music. about love and sex as a to ta l preoccupation. had been When the waitress returned w ith the ir drink$, a young man came over and hugged
making him restless. He supposed that he wanted to be somehow exalted in his ex - Katie. Everyone except Bruno knew his name , and called ou t to him to pull up a chair.
perience, and fe lt that his success and increasi ng affluence entitled him to it. Afte r he had placed an order with the waitress . he asked Katie for a dollar. which she
In 1980. Bruno was seconded from the Brooklyn House of Detention to Rike rs placed on the table. The young man drew a plastic bagg ie out of his jacket pocket, and
Island for a short spell of duty. Since public transport to the prison is unre liable. poured from it onto the dollar a portion of cocai ne powder. He pushed the dollar be-
Bruno used hi s Grand Prix to travel to work . Withi n a week. his car was fully fore Katie, who scooped up a quantity of the powder in th<: long nail of her little fin-
booked by fellow officers for rid~::s to and from work. Hi s passengers were all ger and snorted it. She scooped up another amo unt for the o ther nostril, and passed
women. And it was not long be fore Bruno was invited by o ne of them. Katie. "to the do llar along to her classmates. They snorted from a bit of straw the lawyer had
come party with her." produced. T he ir coworker too k out of her pocketbook a small bottle and used a tiny
Around midnight o n a Thursday in November 19RO. Bruno took Katie to an after- spoon that wa~ attached to its lid to scoop up her portions. The men snorted. Mean-
hours club at Nostrand and Maple Avenues in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. Both while Katie had tipped a little tobacco out of a cigarette. When the do ll ar came around
were splendidly dressed, and out of unifonn or the casual clothes she wore to and to her again. she fi lled the cigarette with cocaine, pinched it at the to p and shoo k and
from work , Kati e was transformed into a slender, amiable woman. She had been to tapped it, then laying it aside, snorted two fi ngernails ful l. She licked her fi ng~::rnail
the hairdresser's earlier that day in preparation for tonight. and was full of anticipa- with the tip of her tongue . lit the cigarette, and inhaled deeply fro m it.
tion. The club wa~ housed in a clean ly scrubbed storefront, whose windows had been Katie kaned over to Bruno and asked whether he had ever "done blow." She urged
t inted a heavy shade of blue. A s ing le young man , dressed in a fresh . dark suit, sat at him to try some. Bruno did as he had seen the others do, usi ng the bit of straw that
a table just inside the street door, and no dded pleasantly as visitors moved to an in- lay on the dollar bill. He felt immediate ly uplifted . T he blast of the powder swept
ner door which opened upon a bar. Glowing lanterns were strung along the length of away the fo g that the afternoon's beers and tonight's drinks had settled in his brain.
it , shedding a steady but soft light upon rows of tables with red upholstered chairs He could feel the heat and wildness of the alcoho l. but the cocaine had sharpened his
on one side. and rows of liquor bottles on the other. Beyond the bar area, in a sec- p<:rception. The splend id features of the people around him suddenly swept into fo-
o nd , very dimly lit room was a dance floor and a DJ's booth. Both rooms were f ull cus, and he fe lt powerfully attracted to them. His fedings of well-being and good-
of elegantly dressed people. and there were many lovely wome n showing ple nty of will made him seem to glow. He took more helpi ngs of the powder, and althoug h he
sheathed legs and exposed bosoms. T here was a low roar of exc itement, laughter, continued drinking a lot, he didn ' t feel in the least bit drunk . To Bruno, a practiced
and sophisticated good times which enveloped Bruno and Katie the moment they drunkard , this result was very surprising.
walked into the bar. It a~sorbed and e nlivened Bruno at o nce. bringing the blood to Hi s companions at the table were each producing dollar bills , o nto which Katie's
his skin and animating his manner. friend poured quantities of cocaine. He collected $20 bills from them . Angie . the
136 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 137

coworker, poured her dollar bill's amount into the small bottle she carried in her Although Angie and Bruno were alw ays in vited to smoke freebase by the distrib-
pocketbook. Bruno's gaze was riveted on her face and movements. 1t seemed to him utor, they showed no interest in it. Once Bruno tried it, but felt no describable effect.
that her beauty was another animal, teemingly <tlive and embracing her real body. Only toward the end of the summer of 198 I did they become attracted to it, and that
Her black skin shone like diamonds and dazzled him. curiosi ty ended their romance. T hey became more absorbed w ith freebasing than
Later, when they were dancing closely together at the rear of the club. Bruno told with each other. and drifted apart .
Angie that her mouth bloomed in her face like a giant tropical orchid, and that dew-
drops lined the petals. He said her wide eyes led him through paths among tall, noble After-hours clubs, of course, were the just the places which Rastafari mar-
trees showing expanses of open skies. He spoke with a fluency which surprised him. ijuana distributors scrupulously avoided. In the ir biblical world view, these
Bruno loved Angie for the remaining winter and in the spring and summer of clubs. with their sex shows. gambling tables , pimps and prostitutes, and clien-
1981. Angie took so much time off from her job that eventually she lost it. Bruno's teles of high spenders , such as (often corrupt) off-duty policemen and correc-
job allowed him days off during the week. He spent those in Angie's apartment. He tions officers. were the very "vice-dens of Babylon." The popularity of co-
would let himself into her apartment with bottles of liqueurs, brandies, and wine
caine, a drug Rastafari initially associated with unbridled sexuality and
and with eighths 13.5 grams] of cocaine. They would undress and lie on Angie's
bed. with the alcohol and cocaine within arm's reach. Snorting the drug stimulated
ill-gotten wealth, had been another deterrent .
them sexually. They daubed the cocaine powder on sensitive parts of their bodies, In 19g I , vast stands of Erythroxylon coca which had been planted from 1975
and got "freezes" when they applied their tongues there. When they made love, to 1978 in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and new areas of Bolivia had matured, and
they remained locked together for hours. Although extended over such tong peri- an estimated seventy metric tons of cocaine hydrochloride powder were pro-
ods of time, their lovemaking was continuously innovative. and never boring to ei- duced in that year alone (Morales 19~9). These Colombian distributors, seek-
ther one. ing new markets for the extraordinary amounts of the drug, looked to the
By spending some evenings at after-hours clubs in Brooklyn's growing network
Caribbean islands and the United States . Several entrepreneurs, like Pablo in
of them, Bruno filled his telephone book with the numbers of other snorters, whose
homes he and Angie visited to use the drug. In this way they made contacts to dis-
Rasta Musa's story (see below), arrived in Caribbean capitals offeri ng attractive
tributors who sold cocaine from their apartments, and could be reached at any hour. deal s to islanders and diffusing also the practice of preparing freebase fro m "ba-
Eventually, they bought their supply from a single distributor in Brooklyn whose suca" paste (a less refined product than cocaine hydrochloride powder).
company they enjoyed, and in whose apartment they liked to linger. They had The choice of Caribbean capitals was fortuitous. Marijuana distributors
learned to beware of cocaine that had been adulterated too much, and found this dis- both on the islands and in the United States were then suffering the worst
tributor's product to be consistently superior in this respect. and reasonably priced. shortages of their preferred product in several years. Word of the availability
They drove to his apartment two or three times a week and bought eighths for $250.
of cocaine on the islands reached New York through the extensive links it had
At home, they ground into it as much as two grams of a sugar, sold in healthfood
with the Caribbean. The Rastafari in both places, with the uncomfortable con-
stores by the brand name Inositol. Paraphernalia. such as bottles, miniature scoops,
mirrored serving trays, grinders, and precision scales they bought as souvenirs of viction that they were violating cherished religious principles , began to ex-
late-night jaunts in Greenwich Village. periment with intranasal use and the distribution of cocaine hydrochloride
The distributor was a Caribbean African painter and sculptor whose conversation powder.
and corpus of work impressed them. He invariably invited them to sit with him, and
they would talk as he worked. He would invite them to share from his little glass dish
of cocaine powder. In their presence, he often prepared batches of smokable cocaine,
or freebasc. He would measure out amounts of cocaine and Arm and Hammer bak- EARLY DISTRIBUTORS OF COCAINE
ing soda and pour them into a test tube with a little water. Then he cooked the mix- HYDROCHLORIDE POWDER IN THE INNER CITY
ture over a Bunsen burner set at a low flame. When a crusty substance frothed up at
the top of the w~ttcr in the test tube, he cooled it by rotating the test tuhe in a cupful In New York City's low-income minority communities, there were few
of cold water. A pale white ball was then formed in the test tube. This was fished out Caribbean African or African American distributors of cocaine hydrochloride
with a lancet and cooled until it became hard. The distributor then placed crumbs of powder in 198 1 who had established selling locations outside the after-hours
it in the bubble stem of a glass water pipe. He heated the bubble with the low flame
clubs. Rastafari, however, who disdained such places, sought out the few
of a Cub torch, and when he pulled at the mouthpiece, a steady stream of smoke
would pass down the stem, through the water and up through the mouthpiece into his
which exi sted. As focus shifted more directly upon intranasal cocaine use than
mouth. The smoke brought sweat to his brow. He would then work (paint and sculpt) upon their other attractions , after-hours clubs were losing their appeal anyway.
or talk with a ferocious energy. The rash of storefronts, which Patron recalled on Fulton Street, offered cocaine
13R Chapter 6 The Ganja Complt~x in Brooklyn 139

powder which had been so heavily "cut" (adulterated) that they failed to se- and the demand o ut stripped hi s Colombian supplier's capacity. As a consequence,
Tomkin had to bestir himself to find other suppliers. In additio n, Tomkin had ente red
cure a loyal clientele.
the marijuana traffic sporadically: a Rastafari importer might leave several pounds
Like the distributors at after-hours dubs . the few existing ne ighborhood of marijuana with him as a payment for cocai ne, which he then resold to other Rasta-
cocaine distributors had modest lifestyles, in which cocaine selling was not fa ri customers. In the company of so many Rastafari , he " lockscd up". and his new
the dominant feature . although it may have provided the sole income. They art projects featured biblical motifs and portrllits of Emperor Haile Selassi-1.
also freebased cocaine in a very restrained fashion and were, therefore. the Nevertheless. the increased tlow of customers. the mingling of marijuana and co-
first coc<~ine smokers of the epidemic described in this book . As R<!staf<~ri and caine monies, and the swel ling throng of hangers-on lingering around to share
other recent initiates to intranasal use sought them out, however, they were Tomkin's frccbase brought an atmosphere of confusion. In the midst of it, Tomkin's
personal usc of smokable cocaine or freebase skyrocketed .
swept from what had been a bywater, as it were , in the ir community 's drug
universe, into its mainstream. But their brief steerage there did not last be-
yond 1982. The case of Tomkin, the Caribbean African artist who had sup- RASTAFARI EXPERIMENTATION
plied Bruno and Angie, is illustrative: WITH SMOKABLE COCAINE

Tomkin (age 29): While a student of sculpture and painting at the Parsons School Having re laxed their religious inj unctions against it, Rastafari were delighted
from 1979 to 1980, Tomkin , a Tobagonian who had been residi ng in New York City by the energy and "peachiness" with which snorting cocaine rewarded them.
s ince his early teens. was introduced to intranasal cocaine usc by fellow students One very wealthy distributor explained during the marijuana scarcity that the
(mostl y European Americans) and frie nds in Greenwich Village. Manhattan. Reput-
nightlong searches for marijuana to sell left him bone-weary. Producing a foil
edly discouraged by the white art establi shment. he moved to Flatbush . After strik-
ing up contact with a Colombian cocaine supplier from the Bronx , he accepted
wrapper containing cocaine hydrochloride powder, he snorted a few lines and
weekly consignments of an ounce of the drug (at $ 1,800 per ounce) for retail from declared that the stuff provided him with the energy to overcome his fatigue.
his apartment. From 1979 to 1980, he managed very well: he reserved some of the An acti vity which Rastafari marijuana users and distributors enjoyed was to
cocaine for his personal use, he "cut" the rest , and made at least $2,800 per ounce by visit nightclubs to listen to concerts given by coreligionists who sang reggae
reselling it, in half-grams and grams !at $50 and $ 100 respectively], to his former and calypso: Tramps to hear Jah Youth , Bonds International for Burning
Village acquaintances and to an increasing number of employed Caribbean migrants Spear. Brooklyn College for Peter Tosh, My Father's Place for Steel Pulse ,
(office workers, profess ional s. nurses, cabdrivers. and a few prostitutes). He thus
the Beacon Theatre for Dennis Brown. the Renaissance Theatre for Gregory
cleared a weekly profit of at least $1 ,000. He was able to complete an impress ive
corpus o f paintings and sculptures; and kept up a tireless schedule of social events
Isaacs, CBGB's for Third World, and SOB 's and the Boys and Girls High
(parties. concerts, openings at art galleries. video. theater). thro ugh which he intro- School and other locales for calypsonians. Musicians were frequently the
duced Brooklynitcs to G reenwic h Vi ll age, and hi s ti·iends there to Brooklyn. A "hot" houseguests of the wealthy distributors. In the informal setting at their homes .
[stolen ] BMW from California. purchased for two ounces of ·'straight- up'' cocaine the singers confessed that they believed, as Ital ian singers once did. that co-
[unadulterated, and in "rocks" o r " chunks" rather than fine powder] , was the fast. caine stre ngthened their vocal muscles.
useful shuttle between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Thus, Rastafari enjoyed cocaine hydrochloride powder as an aphrodisiac
In 1980. To mkin was introduced to freebasing by some of his G reenwich Village
and tonic and , using it, redoubled their efforts in Rastafari and marijuana dis-
companio ns and presently stocked the salesroom in hi~ apartment with a bewilder-
tribution and in making themselves acceptable in the community. When,
ing array of paraphernalia (pipes, stems , mouthpieces. grommets, screens, cooking
bottles, lighte rs and torches. baking soda , rags, Q-tips and other cleaning materials. however, they wished for a psychoacti ve dru g, or for "1-ditation" (meditation
cleaning alcohol, Bacardi I 5 I). Now. between receiving c ustomers and applying which was their way of getting high), they chose marijuana. Although cocaine
himsel f to new art projects, he prepared batches of freebase for hi s personal use. and hydrochloride powder was then being sold at $ 1,800 to $2,800 an ounce, they
confined intranasal use to testing his "cut ," or to sharing among customers. A lthough appeared not to mind the heavy expense.
he offered freebase to favored customers. they were mostly uninterested in this While Rastafari marijuana distributors in New York C ity experimented
method of ingestion. and Tomkin continued freebasing alone and in a very controlled with intranasal cocaine use, and were developing dependent c hains of sup-
manner. ply to an ever-increasing street-level cliente le, their cofreres on the islands
In 198 1, a fresh wave of customers/intranasal users greatly enlivened Tomkin 's
apartment. These were Rastafari marijuana traffickers who had recently relaxed their
were taking a further step. They were accepting an introduction to freebas-
reli g iou ~ prohibitions against cocaine. Business in Tomkin's apartment quadrupled, ing by the many Colombian cocaine suppliers with whom they had come
140 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Bmoklyn 14 1

into regular contact. The same wealthy di stributor, returning to his home When the news (and "pressure" ) of this recent conversion came up the is-
town in Trinidad, reported: lands to the marijuana distributors in New York City, they too stepped up their
!-man live with the Colombians and dem, and dey have their way tif doinK business, demand for cocaine hydrochloride powder, to be converted to freebase for
which i.1· dat dey don 't mix cocaine business with pleasure. Business is business and smoking. Distributors like Tomkin, who were already struggling to cope,
pleasure i.~ after, and dar is the way f.feel a lot of the poor peoplt' get tie up. they try- were now completely submerged by the droves of customers seeking the
ing to do the two. Because this Gestino, this Colombian fella live with me and my drug. Tomkin's story continues:
family and everything, and he been smoking [cocaine, or freebase/ since he was six-
reen. and he smokin · evNJ day. and he is one of the healrhiest men I ever see. By late 1982. Rastafari and the rest of Tomkin's clientele began demanding cocaine
You see, /-man did know Gesrinofor a few years since h(~ first started coming ro hydrochloride powder for conversion to freebase rather than for intranasal use. The
Trinidad, and at .first it was the weed [marijuana] he had. He used to arrange to get change in consuming preference placed a fresh burden upon Tomkin. It meant that
the wt•ed through to Trinidad and then all the way to New Jersey. Bill then he started more customers were demanding more cocaine per person. Now he was obliged to
coming in with.f(mr or .five kilos r~f cocaine. sutTer a large crowd of them to remain in his apartment while he , like a crazed
You .\·e('. he don't run down [crave} the cocaine. ff he smokinK. he don' pack, he apothecary, cooked up their purchases of powder into frccbase. Very often they re-
have somebody packinK for him. When he ww· living at my hou.~e. he use to make me mained in his apartment to use it, sharing with him as he had shared formerl y with
pack for him. You know. parcel out /h e stufffor him. them . A bevy of females-including a number of European Americans, presumably
And when he smokin ·. he smokin ' like a witch doctor. Because same like a witch- from Greenwich Village-settled in permanently.
doctor does light a candle in a glass. or some of them may drink a whole set of pun- The period from I 982 to 1984 shot by quickly in a free base hat.e. By the end of that
cheon rum, and then start telling everything [soothsaying/, he use it in datform. He time , Tomkin had quarreled with his suppliers and had to rely instead on his former
use it ro "see" things. to offer advice, to tell you who people are to you, to tell you Rastafari customers who were now heavily engaged in the import of cocaine from the
if you going to lose certain things. Caribbean islands, Panama, and Florida. He quarreled also with customers who could
Now when he smokin ·. he would smoke .f(Jr this whole day or for two whole days no longer make good their debts. Oftentimes he found himself without product or
and den the third day he don 't smoke a[?ain, he just drink water or soup and build cash. Finally, in fall 1984, he was unable to pay his rent. Together with three of his
himself up again. He lets it go for about a week. Then. come again f thinkinK about former customers, themselves reduced to penury by frccbase use, he moved to
ir], he says he is a weekend nnoker in Bogota in Colombia, and the only time he use cheaper lodgings near St. Paul's and Flatbush Avenue . Tomkin now assumed low-re-
to really smoke during the week was with we in Trinidad, because he was more like turn cocaine distribution roles. Unable any longer to receive consignments, he acted
on a vacation than on business. as a runner between supplier and customer. He took the money from the latter, andre-
And den I started to smoke. Well, leh we say he bring in a portion ah cocaine and turned from the former with the drug . He could not be trusted with both.
we selling like four, five kilos. Like from the time he reach, he does say "that is for busi-
ness." And it have about a ha(f-ah-key [kilo] in bazooka {basuca: a gummy, intenne- The following account of Rasta Musa 's block summarizes the highlights of
diary.fonn in the isolation of cocaine powder/: well, he does say, "this is for .vour high the marijuana economy and its replacement by cocaine:
fusing/ people demand for you to smoke." So ow ah dat we ul·e to smoke, and give
ounces [of the lmok.able basucaj to the brethren who pushing off the keys [kilos of co- Rasta Musa 's Block
caine] for us. Because we use to send some to Brooklyn, but a lot use to sell right here Musa was thirty-five years of age when he settled in Flatbush in 1981. It was ru-
in Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados too. We use to sell $50 piece right here. mored that he was well educated, widely traveled, and had held an important govern-
You see, is in New York that the business really see difficulty. Because the U.S. dol- ment position in Trinidad, his home country. In New York , he had worked for a num-
lar is what they [the Colombians] really want. So there was a pressure to send it to ber of years at various low-paid, freelance, literate jobs: as contributor to a pornography
New York to get the U.S. dollar. Because when we put out rr [Trinidad and Tobago/ magazine, as an occasional columnist in a Caribbean magazine, and as a data proces-
dollars, we put out more money, like in a lender way, and that is ah ~vork [hardship], sor for an advertising firm in Manhattan. Then , in I 976, while working on a reggae mu-
you understand. Because the kinda prices you getting the coke for in Trinidad, when sic project in Jamaica and New York with a video production company, one of his
you get the U.S. dollar, it come like you doubling and trebling your money when it Euro-American coworkers introduced him to an Euro-American marijuana grower
come back down to Trinidad. So when you spend Trinidad money, it come like you from Oregon. The grower assured Musa that he had hundreds of pounds of the fresh
paying double and treble. So that use to kill we. The money was slower in Trinidad high-grade sinsemilla he had given him to smoke. He offered sinsemilla to M usa at
too because it look like everybody had two or three kilos in the bush. The islands got $1,200 a pound, which Musa knew he could sell in Brooklyn for $2,800. He asked the
stock up with cocaine. It come a time when we was holding 25 or 50 bundles of 100 grower to entrust a pound to him and assured him that he would return with the money
straws [cocaine was packed for retail in containers made from drinking straws], sell- in about an hour. He returned, paid the grower $1 ,200 and kept $1,600 for himself. A
ing at $20 each, and we couldn 't move them. few weeks later, the grower introduced Musa to several Euro-American suppliers of
142 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 143

Colombian "commercial'' [the staple of the booming street-level marijuana traffic, sold even ascetic life, exercised a lot , and played ball in the park. He Jived alone, had
for $300 to $500 per pound], who also stocked "exotics"- high-grade marijuanas, no motorcar , dressed casually, and had a modest manner of speaking. His many co-
hashish, and hash oils from around the world. reli gionists visited hi s home regularly but briell y. Appare ntly his affairs wi th
(Middling Prosperity) women were respectful and discreet , and in the neighborhood of both gates and res-
In this way Musa became established as a mid-level marijuana distributor, who idence, he was mostly seen by himself. On Marcus Garvey's birthday, he welcomed
" moved weight'' [sold pounds or more] from importers and cultivators to street-level guests to a vegetarian feast and an evening of drumming and Rastafari chants. The
sellers. A few Rastafari blocks! distributing organizations selling marijuana from one event became an institution in Rastafari Brooklyn and demonstrated the high es-
or several street-level locations] depended on him to supply them. He sold three to teem in which he was regarded.
five pounds of sinsemilla a week, making a $300 commission on each pound ; and (How Interdiction Destm.ved the Marijuana Economy and Promoted Cocaine)
twenty or more pounds of ··commercial" marijuana. at a profit of $50 to $100 on the When cocaine for intranasal use was introduced to Musa in the late 1970s by a
pound. He soon accumulated a substantial fortune. and bou ght property in relatives' young Puerto Rican marijuana distributor, he refused it and explained that it was
names in Trinidad and California. contrary to his religious beliefs. In the winter of 198 1, however. his attitude changed.
(Middle-Age~ Political and Ideological Development and Commitment to Community) Vigorous, street- level interruption of the marijuana traffic by law enforcement agen-
Musa had been an ardent Rastafari since 1974, and had been among the first cies, international seizures of large shipments, and successful crop eradication and
Caribbean Africans from other isl ands than Jamaica to embrace the ideology, and to substitution programs had made marij uana scarce. Mu sa had been spending a lot of
wear dreadlock s. He had expert knowledge of the Scriptures, and of the writings and time at a candy store in Harlem, from which nickel bags of commercial and dimes
worldvicw of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican Pan-African ist who had stimu- of s insemilla were sold by a coreligioni st , Rafi. He had been using the store as a base
lated the spread of Rastafarianism in the 1930s on hi s home island , and is revered as for searches for marijuana among Hispanic importers and di stributors in upper Man-
a prophet of the religion. The Garveyite tenet which Musa heeded most exhorted hattan and the Bronx.
Africans at home and throughout the diaspora to develop their independent eco- Tired and dispirited one night, he was approached by two young Puerto Rican
nomic institutions. In the 1920s, Garvey had raised subscriptions in the United States women of mixed African descent who were regular customers at the candy store. Al-
of $5 each fo r the organization he founded , the Universal Negro Improvement As- though in the past he had politely ignored the ir smiles and other signs of favor toward
sociation, and had invested in a shipping company. the Black Star Line , whose ships him . this time he stepped out from behind the bulletproofed partition and walked with
traded between West Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. He also fou nded them out of the store. The young women, sisters named Joanna and Nancy, confessed
newspapers, restaurants, and other businesses. In Musa's mind , the nickel bags that they were very attracted by Musa's graying dreadlocks and his kindly manner.
Ismail hrown envelopes stuffed with about four grams of commercial marijuana and They wanted to know him better. They were strangers in the predominantly African
sold for $5] into which his marijuana was packaged hy street-level distributors were American neighborhood . and made their living through discreet prostitution.
subscriptions, identical to Garvey's. which he was asking from this generation of Musa accompanied them to their apartment on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard ,
Africans. and perhaps spurred on by the sisters' genuine friendliness, snorted some of the co-
Adapting Garvey's prescriptions, Mu sa encouraged midlevel Jamaican distribu- caine they offered him. The drug relieved the anxiety and fatigue which had over-
tors like himself to stimulate culti vation in Jamaica. Rural Jamaicans were taught to come him. He stayed the night at the sisters ' .
grow, cure, and export sinsemilla to the United States in quantities sufficient to meet Subsequently, Musa was seen often in their company. In Brooklyn, he made en-
the ir demand. They were then independent of Euro-Ame rican or Hispanic importers quiries and was soon introduced to a cocaine powder distributor from whom he
of Colombian , Mexican. or Far Eastern product, and of domestic growers. On a hough! eighths [3 .5 grams sold for $275] several times a week . The marijuana traf-
smaller scale, Rastafari eventually expanded marijuana production in Trinidad and fi c showed sudden bursts of activity which provided him with the money. H aving he-
introduced it to Grenada. Musa was thus an earl y founder of a movement which come a cocaine user, he discovered that many of the persons he dealt with in mari -
eventually "Caribbeanized" a sizable comer of New York 's marijuana market. juana distribution also used cocaine intranasally. When they visited, mounds of
In New York , Musa reinvested a lot of hi s marijuana revenues in confonnity to cocaine were shared and exchanged.
Rastafari principles. He helped some coreligionists to establish their own gates (Overcomin1: Misgivings about Cocaine)
[street-level marijuana distributorships]. He gave seed money to others for a health- Although the intranasal use of cocaine was becoming more prevalent among Rasta-
food store and a vegetarian cookshop , and earned the affection of many Rastafari fari , they were still distrustful of the practice, which violated the ir religious beliefs.
daughters (young women] for his financial support of their efforts in seamstressing, The first page of the Bible had declared that " Jah had given all herb bearing seed to
making Rastafari arti facts, parenting, and education. Many midlevel Rastafari mari- thee, as thy meat." Marijuana use and distribution (as well as vegetarianism) were
juana distributors followed his example . therefore divinely justified. But where was the justification for cocaine? Rastafari ra-
(Middle-Age Spirituality) tionali zed that it was a tonic with merely physical effects: it toned up the body, it stim-
As guaranteed in the Bible, another principal source of Rastafari beliefs and rit- ulated and prolonged sex, and it induced wakefulness which marijuana distributors
ual, Musa was recognized for his good works. Personally, he lived an austere and valued in the ir frustrating recent searches for marijuana. It was an extraordinary food
144 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 145

rather than a drug. When " 1-man" wanted to "get high" or to "1-ditate" [medi tate ! or (Colombian- Caribbean Cocaine Connections)
to "speak with the Father," " 1-man'' still used marijuana. What most encouraged Musa in freebasing was the high regard he had formed for
(Leaming to Smoke Cocaine from Colombians in Trinidad) Pablo. This allayed somewhat the religious mi sgivings Rastafari continued to have
Musa·s doubts about cocaine were removed during a trip he made with Joanna and about cocaine. He learned , through Joanna and Nancy as interpreters, that Pablo and
Nancy to Trinidad early in 1982. Marijuana had been impossible to find in New he were very alike. Like himself, Pablo came from a poor family in which he was
York . and he had needed a holiday and to attend to bus iness he ma intained on the is- the achiever. He had been active in Colombian politics and had been imprisoned for
land . Both women trave led with several ounces of cocaine strapped to the insides of it . Exporting marijuana to Panama had ushered him into an easier life and into a new
their thighs. In T rinidad. they went to Rafi 's father's house in Central Trinidad . Rati. frame of thinking . What he had done. othe rs could do. He had thus become a leader
the Rastafari marij uana distributor from Harlem, had also returned home . He had in his ne ighborhood, in the same way as Rastafari had done in theirs. When cocaine
started a ve ry popular reggae discotheque which his father managed . became plentiful in Colombia. it proved a more lucrati ve way to augment the com-
"Taking coal s w Newcastle' ' is the quaint Anglo-Caribbean phrase Musa used to munity work he had begun.
describe their impot1 of cocaine into Trinidad. Several Colombian distributors were Musa and Rafi responded positively to Pablo's love of the indigenous. Rafi had
conspicuous in inner-c ity neighborhoods in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando. brought US$100 ,000 from New York, and pa id Pablo a $10,000 down payment
Trinidad 's largest cities . Each had a few kilos of high-grade cocaine to sell , at prices against prompt delivery of several kilos of cocaine. When the shipment arrived, Musa
well below those in New York. Rafi and Musa befriended one in Port-of-Spain and returned to New York City with four kilos strapped as before to Joanna and Nancy.
took him home to Central Trinidad. One of his first duties upon returning was to send two "daughters" to Trinidad to pick
Rafi 's discotheque was a well-known drug distribution locale, and many in- up more cocaine. Through the use o f women or families as couriers, Rafi was able to
tranasal users of cocaine in Trinidad, a growing legion , started going there to buy the send frequent shipments of cocaine to New York City until late 1984.
drug. Pablo the Colombian produced tive kilos which were quickly sold. Pablo also (Development of the New York City Cocaine Market)
taught Musa and Rafi how to smoke freebasc . He had brought with him half of a kilo Cocaine hydrochloride powder kept arriving from Trinidad regularly at prices sev-
of basuca [cocaine paste preceding crystallization], whic h he cooked into frccbasc erdl thousand dollars cheaper per kilo than New York's. To sell them , Musa and oth-
with baking soda. ers to whom Rail sent supplies worked around the clock . Very quickly, an extensive
Long weeks followed before Pablo 's return to Colombia - or Rafi and Musa's to network of midlevel cocaine distributors who bought several ounces at a time fell
New York C ity - whe n the three men, their friends, Joanna, Nancy, and some women into place. Telephones rang constantl y. Buyers drove up from Washington and Mary-
from the discotheque. would seek out a shady spot to continue their tutelage in land who were willing to double the local prices.
preparing and smoking frccbase. Central Trinidad is mostly rural, a nd there are rice (Freebase Parlors)
paddies, mango and orange groves , stands of bamboo, sugarcane fields, and country Musa 's New York apartment was transformed into a freebase parlor as he sought
lanes which offered the group many secluded. bucolic settings for the purpose. customers for smaller quantities (half a gram sold for $50) of cocaine- or as they
Cocaine smoking was unlike any experience Musa had ever had. He said that it crowded to his door. He converted many Rastafari to cocaine smoking , and through
seemed "as though hi s world had been in shadow, and that it had suddenly emerged Joanna and Nancy, attracted a sizable Hispanic clientele for the first time in his drug
into brightest day." His senses, thoughts, feelings, and emotions had been transferred distribution career. The scene was greatly enli vened by the arrival of a succession of
in midcourse to another plane, where they moved at a dizzying speed. When he trained enterta iners and singers from the Caribbean, who had musical bookings in America
himself to be still in the midst of the motion , "a wonderful peace shone from him." He and Canada . Many were freebasers and claimed. like the Italian tenors of the early
fe lt that he grew ma~tcrful in speech sure in his movements and effused wellbeing. I 900s . that wcai ne stre ngthened their vocal cords . With them came throngs of
Freebasing was a curiosity in many other respects. It turned the day upside down. women admirers. well-wishers, musicians, and agents in the entertainment and
The company awoke late in the afternoon . and after bathing and eating and putting recording businesses. Last of all , Musa admitted several African Americans who Ji ved
on fresh clothes , sought out that day 's retreat. Sometimes they remained under the in his apartment building or in the neighborhood . A street-level clientele who bought
father 's house. Pablo would cook freebase from his store of ba~ uca, inviti ng them to nickels and dimes, they had never suspected that he sold marijuana or other drugs.
observe how round and how white the ball of freebase he produced was . He used (How Cocaine Smoking Unraveled Fortune, Morality, and Politics)
such equipment as was avail able, and could even cook in a beer bottle without break- In the dense crowd at his apartment, and in the midst of continuous smoking and
ing it. While they smoked , he fashioned pipes from bottles. lengths of glass tubing. atte nding to business, it was a while before Musa realized that for him , a generous
and rubber joints . He continued cooking basuca throughout the evening and into the person, the cost of freebasing was prohibitively high . Personal use and gifts to his
night. If they remained at home, they introduced visitors to the pipes. They talked company sharply reduced his cocaine profits, and he had depleted previous mari-
and joked a lot , and listened to reggae . Toward morning, couples separated them- juana savings to make payments to Rafi . But he fe lt compelled to smoke freebase
selves and by dawn , had sought out private places for lengthy lovemaking. Then they himself, and when there was company, he was obliged to share it. He and others were
slept until late afternoon again. This daily schedule absorbed them and differed from puzzled by this compulsion. At first , they felt that it was caused by careless prepa-
any other they had known . ration of the drug or its improper ingestion. They experimented with a variety of
146 Chapter 6 The Ganja Complex in Brooklyn 147

tcch n iqu es - con~t ructing

pipes, measuring out exact amounts of the drug and bak- continue to learn of marijuana and to experience it. Afte r the cocaine econ-
ing soda, altering the cooking process, finding new heat sources. controlling their omy and cocaine-smoking epidemic had wreaked havoc during the 1980s,
breaths - but to no avail. The compulsio n to prepare and smoke freebase remained. young residents stopped the destruction by eschewing cocaine and heroin use ,
and continued to siphon off substantial business profits.
returning to "blunts" of marijuana. At the same time, Rastafari orthodoxy,
By this time. Musa had a number of sexual partners . In addition to Joanne and
Nancy, there were several African American women from the neighborhood who
strained during the cocaine era , has also returned with a new crop of young
spent the better part of a day at his apartment. When he tried to introduce controls religionists and reggae musicians.
on the amount of cocaine he gave aw;~y, they quarre led. Since they spent all their
money buying cocaine from Musa and were providing him with sexual services, the y
felt entitled to more freebase. In the end. he always donated it. One of his company NOTES
discovered a passage in Reve lation which read: "I know thy works, and where tho u
dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the I. Lempert has identified the preconditio ns of decriminalization as emanating from the
hidden manna , and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name writ- " moral dissonance" that occurs when dev iant law-violating behavior is identified in an ac-
ten , which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Mu sa concluded that co- tor simultaneously possessing both hig h social status and low moral status. This " moral
caine and freebase were indeed divine. The "new name" referred to a new di sc ipline. dissonance" induces pressure for decriminalization. However, while in this instance there-
The drugs posed a test , by which the weak were weeded o ut , and the strong prepared forms of the 1970s resulted in eleven states reducing criminal penalties for possession of
to prevail in the future Armageddon. Mu sa felt that he was fa iling the test. "Many small amounts of marijuana. some prominent criminologists got carried away in predict-
shall be called, but lew are chosen." ing that " In the next to years marijuana will be virtually decriminalized in this country"
(Escape ru Ethiopia {Africa/) and were even confident that heroin and cocaine would be made legal in some states.
In 1983, Rafi discontinued supplies of cocaine to several core ligionists in New
York City who could not pay for consignments. Musa was one. To find cocaine to
support his own need and for business, he was obliged to network among distribu-
tors for whom he had been formerly a major supplier. Many were receiving their own
bulk shipments from the Caribbean or Florida. Personal use, however. prevented
Musa from making any profits. Convinced that he had been a false prophet in advo-
cating the use and distribution of cocaine , especially smokable cocaine, Musa tidied
up what remained of his business interests in early 19!l4 and flew to Central Africa,
where he works on a farm managed by a Rastafari colleag ue, another former mari -
juana distributor from New York City.

THE PERSISTENCE OF THE GANJA COMPLEX

Throughout the 1980s, the "cocaine-smoking epidemic" rapidly overtook ma-

jor cities in the United States and the several islands and territories of the
Caribbean region. At the end of the decade, as its use declined in those areas,
it thrusted into rural America, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa , and the
Far East. In contrast to the previous decade of marijuana ascendancy, which
was a period of capital accum ulation , building up , not only cash reserves and
property but neighborhoods, persons, their relationships and associations,
moralities, ambitions, and outlooks, cocaine smoking was one of capital de-
pletion , in which all were "emptied out" (Hamid 1992, 1998).
Despite the decline of the marijuana traffic in the 1980s , however, the
ganja complex has remained as the interface through which indi viduals
 Chapter 7

The Ganja Complex versus Other

Marijuana Use-Complexes:
Ganja versus Madi-juana

The anthropological research reported in this book aimed to contribute to the

scientific understanding of the effects of marijuana on human beings. Ac-
cordingly, it documented the impacts the drug has had on Cari bbean Africans
on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago and in the Caribbean com-
munities of Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. The investigation of
patterns of drug distribution, use , and misuse in these populations is of great
value . Although they are under researched and under served populations , they
provide insights into unique person-drug interactions which substantially en-
hance the cross-cultural record on the drug in question . While illuminating
important issues such as initiation, patterns of consumption, differentiation of
specific effects, modes of administration, drug switching, careers in distribu-
tion, income generation, expenditure on drugs, the redistribution of revenues,
and public opinion, this book has encapsulated the use and distribution of
marijuana within a broader political economy.
This research touched upon several of the questions which had preoccupied
Americans in the 1960s about marijuana. Just as in the United States , marijuana
use in Tri nidad in that decade signified youth rebellion, a provocative counter-
cultural life- style, hedonism, radicalism, permissiveness , critical attitudes to
authority, issues of law and order, the generation gap, intercultural conflict, and
a general concern for the place of drugs in society and individual lives (Kaplan
1969). Comparing how these points of intersection of the drug with major de-
velopmental and sociocultural issues were differentially configured or resolved
in the United States and in the postcolonial setting of Trinidad and Tobago il-
luminates how drugs function in political and symbolic discourses.
Two patterns of marijuana use were identified among the Trinidadian users
encountered in this book. The first, or the ganja complex, which blossomed

149
 150 Chapter 7 The Ganja Complex versu.1· Other Marijuana Use-Complexes 151

into the Rastafari or Rastafari-influenced use of marijuana, fo rmed the topic of Greece (1983). Work in the same anthropological tradition in Trinidad and
the preceding chapters. The second usc pattern, derided by one Rastafari block Tobago is reported in this book. Ethnographic research demonstrates amply
leader (see below) as '"madi' -juana use," will be described in this chapter, how marijuana use may be integrated uneventfully in the round of a normal
which seeks to summarize and explain the differences between the two. (i.e., nonpathological) life.
An arresting proof of the benignity of ganja is provided by a recent ethno-
graphic study which compares the educational outcomes of the children of
MADI-JUANA VERSUS GANJA Rastafari women in Jamaica. who were prenatally exposed to marijuana (the
oldest hav ing been subsequently initiated into personal use through teas and
Research on marijuana has concluded either that the drug is re latively hann- eventually smoking), with those of a noncxposed control group of children of
lcss or that it is a "deceptive weed,'' behind the mildness of which lurk mul- abstainers . The Rastafari children not only exceeded the school performances
tiple serious hazards to physical health and psychosocial well-being. Drugs, and test scores of abstainers ' children. but displayed intellige nce and profi-
howe ver, have a Janus face and the potential both for great good and great ciency which were outstanding in their age grades altogether.
harm . In this, they are no different from the host of human gratifications. In the research reported in this book, the effects on human behavior of even
When smoked, marijuana produces a state of intoxication for two to four chron ic, heavy use of marijuana (when users smoke five to ten joints, or up
hours; when eaten or drunk , the effects last for up to twelve hours. Psycho- to fourteen grams, daily for several years) have been found to be demonstra-
logical set and social setting determine how the intoxication is experienced bly benign. Permission to assay the THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) con-
(Zinberg 1984), but the main common effects are feelings of euphoria and ex- tent of marijuana locally available in the study sites was not sought, but
hilaration , with heightened sensitivity to sights. sounds, and touch. Since it knowledgeable and well-traveled users say that it compares well with the best
somewhat delays reaction time, reduces short-term memory, and impairs at- available anywhere. An examination of more than 300 case histories collected
tention and coordination for several hours after use, marijuana use can be in the various stages of fieldwork in the Caribbean and New York City, of the
dangerous in some workplaces. The main physiological effects are increased tape-recorded interviews of several of the study participants, and of field
appetite, accelerated heartbeat and pulse rate, and slightly bloodshot eyes; but notes reporting multiple interactions with them has not revealed evidence of
a toxic delirium may be induced at very high dosages. in which the user may any physical or psychological ill effects directly attributable to marijuana
experience confusion , agitation, disorientation , loss of coordination , and hal- which can be grossly detected. Long-te rm damage to the lungs, chromo-
lucinations. Anxiety and feelings of paranoia may also afflict inexperienced somes, or brain was not clinically tested ; but study participants have contin-
users (Grinspoon and Bakalar 1985). ued to produce children, and appear to lead healthy, vigorous, responsible
Researchers who are not convinced that marijuana is a more or less benign lives. There was abundant evidence instead of a very positive personality
drug, which is never lethal and seldom a personal or social problem, have re- change, or of significant cognitive and normative reorientation. occurring in
ported that its long-term use causes a cannabis psychosis, characterized by an influential part of the using population , whic h the affected persons cred-
chronic confusion and disordered thinking. Long-term users are also thought ited to the therapeutic and educational properties of the "wisdom weed." In
to be amotivational and to suffer chromosomal damage, reduced production the rest of the using population , marijuana is smoked without such an expec-
of sperm and testosterone, and psychological dependency on the drug. Fi- tation of dramatic self-transformation.
nally, marijuana users are also prone to escalate their drug usage and to try When marijuana was introduced in San Fernando, Trinidad, paranoid and
out " harder" drugs. In the main , these findings have been based on laboratory disassociative effects were experienced by some of its earliest users. Brought
and clinical studies. to medical attention at the San Fernando General Hospital, they were treated
Ethnographic research has been a useful corrective to these studies, which with antidepressants such as the phenothiazincs. A functi on of the early using
frequently employ captive animal and human study populations and investi- groups was to screen out persons (for example, epileptics or those with a h is-
gate the effects of unusually large dosages in artificial, often hostile settings. tory of psychiatric problems) who were more likely to experience those effects.
Following the pioneering work in Jamaica, in which heavy marijuana smok- In chapter 3, the Jaguar reports the bout of " laughing and carrying on" which
ers were observed in their everyday, natural settings (Rubin and Comitas had followed his trial attempts at becoming a marijuana user. Eventually, how-
1969), ethnographic research has been undertaken in Costa Rica ( 1980) and ever, two distinct bodies of effects, or use-complexes , were differentiated
152 Chapter 7 The Ganja Complex versus Other Marijuana Use-Complexes 153

among marijuana smokers. Observing this outcome , the Rastafari and their especially in the case of most middle-class users, occasionally, on week-
sympathizers claimed that, while they used ganja or " I-cient herbs ," non- e nds and at parties . Whether use is daily or occasional , heavy or slight ,
Rastafari smoked marijuana, or even "madi-juana." A block leader re- however, the feature which marks madi-juana use is its occurrence in a pat-
marked: tern which often includes the use of other drugs: alcohol, mandrax , LSD
and (especially in the case of middle-class users) cocaine, mescaline, and
I( you cafl it marijuana, you could Re f lock up. Dah is hm~· de.finitirms does ha ·. whatever else is available . A lso, madi-juana use does not oblige users to
vocabulary does ha ' . .. Ycm see how word.1· is really terrible! Is a Vt't)' importatll exclude cigarettes and meat (or other foodstuffs proscribed by Rastafari)
thing to swdy. l*m/.1· luz ' a j()rm of pollution in it and thinR you hear thundering and
from their diets .
heating thi.f man mind, it ha ' to unfold.
Madi-juana users do not have excessive views about their experiences wi th
What, marijuana ? Dar ain't marijuana, dat is herb.1·, 1-cient herbs. Dem [non-Rasta-
it. Unlike Rastafari, who reserve honorific names for the substance (1-cient
fari / does smoke marijuana- "madi-juana ": dat does make dem nwd and make dem go
o.ff [do unconscionable acts/. "Madi-ijuana/" All {the only thing] dem Rasra does he rbs, ganja , kalli, kaya), they call it by any of these names, as well as pot,
smoke is herbs. Ycm see. dem fnon-Rast(l(ari] believe in smoking dat: madi-juana. But grass, weed , dope , shit or drugs with utter lack of di scrimination.
de good "kalli" I Hindi word used in Jamaica for "flowering bud"}, Rasia smoking dm. One madi-juana user, a you ng man of thirty-two who is forever nattil y
1-cielll herbs. With de seed. Ycm want to see de One with itse(fwithin itse({. with itself is dressed, heir to the real estate fortune of an ex-government minister, himself
itself, that is One? Just as how de man is. right? Se({ within se(f; and de se(f'il' de se((. very comfortably ensconsed in government employment, a man of impecca-
Well. dat is what de man does use. Not madi-juana. ble manners and generous ways, smokes marijuana and drinks whiskey daily,
To go and pick pocket and chap peoplt•. Dah i.~ madi-jumza work: get mad vibes
both to excess . Usually, he "tamps" (completes and moderates) the smoke
{ideation].
with a drink.
At the same time, non-Rastafari users or those not impressed by the Rasta- The young man claims that he is unable to distinguish between the ef-
fari ideology, especially in those privileged classes most removed from the fects of alcohol and marijuana. He feel s the latter gives more of a " head
low-income milieu of San Fernando's inner-city and workers' suburbs , attrib- trip," and enjoys the drugs best while quietly listening to music. Possess-
ute the same "mad vibes" to the Rastafari themselves, allowing that, when ing also a restless sexual appetite , he believes that in this matter, alcohol
misused , marijuana may prompt wrongful thought and action. Of their own had more "zes" (gusto) . He didn ' t like to make love while he " had his
use, however, they have no ill effects to report. head" (was high) fro m a " hit" (smoking marijuana), but he liked it a lot
The distinction between ganja and madi-juana, however, is a substantial when he was just "coming off de head" (the effects of marijuana were
one, the extremes of which are recognized also by the local marijuana traffic. wearing off somewhat).
For example , Caribbean European San Fernandians, or the population farthest An Indian oil refinery laboratory tester at Texaco, offered the following ac-
removed from the low-income context of use in the city, are served by two count:
blocks or selling organizations exclusively. These two blocks are the only
ones of the 110 identified in San Fernando which arc not operated by Rasta- (Extent of Use)
Everv dav I does smoke . .. i.~ hard to check . .. . Today, I done smoke 4 . .. 5 ...
fari. The first is operated by an Indian husband and wife team, who have pros- 6 ... /. don.e smoke 7 joints. I smoke 4 by myself, and 3 with friends. And den I go
pered handsomely from the exclusive , well-to-do clientele . Showing simil ar smoke about 3 more before tonight.
signs of prosperity, the other is also operated by Indians. Although three as- Well, I could smoke about /0-15 joints a day, you know. And I never been in de
sociates are Rastafari (although of Indian parentage, they identify themselves trade, eh. So all ofdal I does huy. So sometimes I does put out $14 a day. Dati~· why
as Rastafari and are so regarded by San Femandians), the leader and two oth- I was telling Vim fa Rastafari distributor: see chapter 3] to give me 3 for $2. If 1
ers are not. come with $5, I want 8 or C) joints, or I wane a little piece f 4 or more grams of loose
At the extremes of the difference, therefore , ganja is sold separately from !(anja. not rolled into joint.~ j , you know. Dar is a normal arrangement, but is still
costly.
madi-juana .
(Expenses and Social Context of Buying Madi -juana)
What are the differences between madi-juana use and ganja use? I figure in a week I does spe1Ul ... say on average about $8 a day. Seven days a
Madi-juana Use: A madi-juana user uses the substance either as other week: about $240 a month. Good ting mih wife don't really know I does smoke: ah
working class/unemployed users (five to te n or more joints a day); or else, suppose to stop smokin ' by now, right? She ain 't know dati still carryin 'on. But look,
154 Chapter 7 The Ganja Complex versus Other Marijuana Use-Complexes !55

me ain't never suffer no ill effect. I wukin ', I married, 1 lookin ' after mih wife and to go. Day and night I does be drinkin ·. you know. Because with sh!frn.·ork, I does be
children. out all de time. Say when ah lime of about seven friends get together, is about six
So is roughly $170 a month really I does buy. And mostly 1 does buy riRht here in cases ah beers we does drink. Dah is six by twenty-four [ 144 12-ounce bottles]. Now
de neiRhborhood, unless I outside. Say I outside and need somethinf? ... well, 1 will dis wasn 't one da)'; you know. Dis was regular. everyday. Sometimes three of us does
know where to go look and I will get sometinf?. sit dong and drink a bottle {26 ounces/ of rum ... by the end of de day, when every-
Dalz is someting, eh ? With de ganja, as a Indian , I find I could communicate plenty body dnne pass [has stopped to visit and drink/. we drink six bottles. And dah is
with the opposite race-dah is de Negro [Caribbean African] race. You find before among de whole lime, about 10 of us.
you couldn'tfind dar. It still have someting remain, you know [reference to rivalry Wei/look, I did some heavy drinkin ' dis week gone here. Saturday, six to eight men
between East Indian and Caribbean African politicians in the period of nationali;t drink four {26 ounce} bottles-four and a halfboules of Johnnie Walker Black in de
struggle, 1955-1961 ]: some people still ~·ery racial. Especially on de job. At Texaco mornin'. Den we come and 1ve smoke about an ounce [ofmarijuana]. Went back in
. .. leh we say I smokin ', rif?hl? Leh we say dey f Caribbean African workers 1 de night and drink about ha(f{bottle] a Johnnie Walker Black again. Dah was Sat-
smokin' too, rif?hl? "WHl, I does smoke very hard too, rif?ht? You find when dey come urday. Sunday mornin ·. we went by de--dong Esperanza dey I a nearby village/: six
and dey sit donf? and dey smoke, you communicate better with dem. But othenvise, ah we drink a bottle ah Johnnie Walker Black andfour bottles of Buchanan ·~·fan im -
some ah dem does stay racial. Myself. I don 't see norhin ' racial, vou know. Neither ported Scotch whiskey/. Mody freak out. He drive de car home.fmm de inn /a bar],
black nor white: just people. . he reach de house, take off he shirt, come in de gallery, sit dong, just bend over he
Mostly, I don ' score in de ghetto tlwuf?h. I does go by Vim, by Mody, by a Negro head and start to vomit and dah is it. Dmp asleep right dey.
[African} fella-well, he and I growin ' up together, you know- he push someting too. Now if you see I work in' on a alcnhol head f affected by alcohol/. you find I f?O
So I dnn ' f?O much in de ciry. l use to f?O dong to de ghetto in Roy Joseph Scheme and break up de apparatus. Ah go drop it dong too hard. All dese kind a lings. Ah
dey use to treat me good. Sit dong, talk, smoke with dem. Lauf?h and ting. At dat time, walkin ': de fla sk might bounce {hit against/ de desk and break because you walkin'
dey wasn't on no Rasta scene or nuttin '. Dat have to be about.four years ago { 1974]. careless and ting. But de marijuana effects does he different. You could concentrate
So is really less dan $200 I does .1pend a month. Because sometimes I does go by on what you doin 'and even like doin' it sometimes.
de pusherman early in de moming, you know. and he does run [gives away ] three or De ganja does make your head race [stimulate mental activity]. But mo.~ · ah de
four jnints. I might buy one. Den I might buy two. But on average most ah de times, time I don 't be follow in' dat. Most ah de time we sittin' dong smokin ', playin ' cards,
is about $5-$6 a day. Den again you ha'friend~·: friends does have weed to smoke, playin ' pool, cookin' some kind a ring .. . you know. Nothing really constructive,
so is no problem. De weed does pass around . . . right. Just havin ' a good time. Dah is what does he going on with de lime dat i does
A time I once1 I went to a party and mih brother run [gave] me a smoke. Dah is be limin ' in. /, my brother, Mody, he three brothers, Tax- well dis guy from Canada
the start: when I was about 18. I 26 no11-: I started to smoke marijuana at de wrong here on holidays, so he ain't really in dat: about nine of us. But ever:v man workin '
time, I would say. I started to smoke dis week, leh we say: and de same week come for pieces [ROOd money]. Mody married, but he get a divorce last September. Den
and I get a job at Pointe-a-Pierre [site of Texaco Oil Refinery, about ten miles from three ah de fellas married too, and ha' children, I married, ha' a child, and expect-
the San Fernando city center}. So den I didn 't have to look for money anywhere to in 'another one nex' month.
buy it: money always dere, after I get tum on to it more and more and more. And it (A Result of Combined Alcohol and Madi-juana Misuse ?)
goin ' in eight years now I mwkin'. From November '70. Dah is a salarv ah $590 a We ha ' about four cars between we. I l·el/ mine. J had an accident with a man who
week, plus cost of livin ', shift bonus: everytinf? come up to $630 a week before tax. I die a week after. De matter still pendin', so I ain't want to play fa st and go and buy
does live at home; same house with my parents hut downstairs. So dat is a help. a car and /orse my license. Dah was mihfather car you see me drivin ' today. We ain't
(Comparing the Effects of Marijuana and Alcohol) really know whether de man death have to do with de accident. because he didn 't
Now de first time I try it, I like de fee lin 's. You know. Now, I never had what you want to press charges de night: is was he fault. He had no injuries other dan a brui.~e
call hallucinations, eh. Never happen! Once it happen but dah is because I wake out on he head: he couldn 't walk though, was me who carry him to de holpital. And den
whole night and I get up in de mornin 'and 1 start to smoke. De sun was too hot and he died a week after. 1 don't know how. So I waitin' to see what happen.
. . . but I never freak out or nullin '. /just like de fee/in'. Now I feel is even de habit Ah liable to get seven years .for manslaughter. Accident- man dead within a year:
more dan anytinf?. That is all. dey could charge me for manslaughter. is for de coroner to decide.
For me to get a real f?OOd fee lin', J ha' to stop smokin 'for a day, or a day and a (Madi-juana, Religion, and Diet)
half. And den go and look . . . you see de piece ah weed Vim Ira · now? Go and look in some ah dem Indian prayers [Hindu prayer meetings or religious ceremonies}
for someting like dat to smoke. Just smoke, smoke, smoke. But when savin ' so, me dey does use ganja in a drink too: you know when dey f?ive you a little drink? Get a
ain 't ha ' no plans to stop smokin,' eh. . nice fee lin '? Nn, I is of Muslim origin really. But 1 believe in Gnd, eh. I gone to Pres-
I prefer to stop drinkin '. 1 drink plenty. I been drinkin' since two years before J byterian, Open Bible, Seven Days Adventist.
leave school, when l was sixteen. I come to realize I cyant do de two things at de 1 attend all dese churches. I went ro Seven Days Adventists de mas'; hut I never get
same time, and if push come. to shove [if I am forced to decide]. booze goin ' to ha ' baptize. De Open Bible and Seven Days. You know, is a mixed congregation: Indians
!56 Chapter 7 The Ganj a Complex versus Other Marijuana Use -Complexes 157

and Nef?roS I Caribbean Africans]. Same with pustors: Indians and Negro.f. But de Pres- personas to whom meat eating, pharmaceuticals, medical science , and
hyterinn is mostly Indian. I was brouf?ht up in de Open Bible Chun;h. Never use to cook money attac h themselves. Among Rastafari , ga nja use is expected to in-
from _sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Just sit dong. cool yourself whole day. read
crease thoughtfulness, creati vity, and positi ve motivations and is credited
de Bthle. De majority of the family is Presbyterian: two sisters tum Hindus. De~• don 't
eat1w meat period. Me. I could sit dung and eat meat alone whole dav. / love m~at. De
wi th the rehabil itation of wasted lives. Ras tafari regarded ganja as one of
g anja ain 't stop da t. I does ea t eFeryting. Only I d on 't t;o o.D"too much.on p ork. Brought the sacred pillars of their religion.
up .w [Muslim taboo at;ainst pork/ ... never use to go heavy on de pork. Brought up so Matos , a leading Rastafari block leader who was introduced in chapter 3,
. . . so I stay away .from dar a little bit. But /like everyting: .fish, meat. said in summary:
I sta rt smokin ' f?a nja when everybody start. Around '70. AIL ah we up here " ·ho
lim in ' today, w e together from den. But throu gh de !Jllllja, I get to know plenty peo- De herbs is really for m an l-d irarion f medit ation , co mmuning.\· w ith self /. It come like
ple. Mostly N egro.1 ·[Carihbean Africwu']. De majority. And dah was a good experi- if one's 1-ditation is in wic:kedne ,\\1', a nd one use de herb, he and all /e ven he/ could
ence: nobody don't treat you in a violent or racial way or nuuin '. Dey a{wavs move further he meditation too . But 1 an d I {Rastafari] a -deal with ~:oodness. When I and
with love rowards you. I really .find dat so. A lot of Rastas move f?OOd with .we, talk 1 use d e h erb, it does pu t I and I o n a hif?her 1-ditatio n ah goodness. 1-num a -deal
~ood with we, treat we alri[?ht. Not so deep conversation: some ah dem not so deep with de Father, and !-man use de herb to reach ro a higher plane to vibes / be in com-
m dey Rastajari. dey just sportin· Locks and pul·hin' de weed, you kno w. So dev don't m union with/ de Father. Because it real co rrupted in dis here time.
ha' no deep talk with dem, dey really not on dat. Rut d ey a in't on no criminal scene Well den, de herb does help I to stand more ji.r1n [unco rrupted ]."
or nuttin. ·
A ll ah we up here does smoke and drink, is why we lime to[?ether. You f ind vou
ha ' some f ellas who don't do neither; so we don 't lime with dem. Den de\' have ciuse
who gettin' off on alcohol. And den deh have dose who only lim in ' with you if you Explaining the Differences between Madi-juana and Ganja
smokin '.
A puzzle generated by this research. therefore . is the contrast between the two
diffe rent sets of effects. Ethnicity is only a rough marker between the two,
The foregoing account marks off the main features of madi-juana or non-
and indeed , it should be noted that similar contrasts in the use of cocaine and
Rastafari usage: marijuana together with alcohol and other substances con-
s~m~~ in p~ivate recreational circles (limes), without the expectation ~f any of other psychoactive substances in other cultures are reported.
For e xample, many indigenous Mexican peoples (Huichol , Tarahumara)
sigmf1cant !•fe- or consciousness-altering effects. M adi-juana smokers belong
d istinguish between "good" or " bad" peyote (tsuwiri versus hikuri) or mush-
to conventwnal churches and share the conventional outlook on life . Al-
rooms , although identical substances are used (Myerhoff 1974; Furst 1986).
thoug~ Rastafari find these uses of marijuana objectionable, regarding them
When peyote is collected and consumed according to traditional regulations,
as typ1cal of Babylon, or more domestically, of the derivative culture of
it has benign effects; otherwise it induces psychosis. In explaining the differ-
Trinidad's moneyed classes, it is clear that workers and other unemployed
ences between Rastafari use and non-Rastafari use of marijuana , or the con-
persons enjoy marij uana in this manner.
trasts in other cultures, the agency of purely psychopharmacological factors
T~e ~ffects of madi-juana are described as mild and benign and, according
is obviously muted. Drugs identical in form , dosage , and potency are admin-
to ~ht s mformant , far preferable to those of alcohol. It increases various ap-
istered to the same human stock, but with strikingl y dissimilar results. Thus,
~~ttes; and of the two stimulants, it is the one which induces greater socia-
the sociopolitical identities of the users, and the social and economic circum-
bth ty, ~~cefulness, and satisfaction . Cerebral stimulation is seldom reported
stances in which the drug was used , assume prominence.
by madt-juana users: they feel drowsy instead.
Becker, for example, dismissing studies which purport to show cannabis-
related brain damage or chromosome damage . has argued :
Ganja Use
Sociologists are unlikely to accept such an a-social and uni-casual explanation of any
The R astafarian experience of ganja or 1-cie nt herbs, has been explored
form of complex behavior, whatever the find ings of pharmacologists and others . . . .
more fu lly in the preceding chapters. Identified as a natural substance, it Wh at interests the social scientist is the problem of the dru g-induced experience,
had inspired confidence in items similarly identified-fruits , vegetables, taken in its own right. This interest reveals the following facts: (a) that "drugs" are
nature cures, and the "natural self'' -leaving hostility toward "artificial" accompanied by a wide variety of effe cts , only one or few of which the user
things such as alcohol, other drugs, and the wide spectrum of " vanity" - may choose to experience. Thus the same drug may induce different e xperiences
!58 Chapter 7 The Canja Complex versu.~ Other Marijuana Use -Complexes 159

in different populations. And. (b) to say that users are seeking experiences not or- and 2 - tumed into a kind of coin, as it were, which could be passed around
dinarily available to them, is to say they will choose effects which are unconven-
in such a way as to define more clearly and expedite these ongoing processes
tional , o r deviant; e.g. distortions in space and time. shifts in judgements of the im-
portance and meaning of ordinary e vents ( Becker 1963). of social rearrangement. Marijuana was a kind of movable storehouse con-
taining these social energies; in this respect. it functioned exactly like money
Becker contends that "how a person experie nces the effects of a drug or any other medium of exchange: cowrie shells (Bohannon 1953), kula ob-
greatly depends upon the way others define those effects for him." In other jects (Malinowski 1939), or cattle (Evans-Pritchard 1943 ) among many oth-
words, the "drug experience" and associated behaviors are intelligible only in ers. Indeed , the desc riptions offered by anthropologists of the fascination
an interactionist framework: that is, in a sociological framework as opposed commonplace objects exert over persons who symboli ze w ith them resemble
to a biochemical one. Citing Mead, he writes: addicts' descriptions of their favorite drugs.
If marij uana was a cultural good, a produced or manufactured value, then it
Objects have meani ng for the person only as he imputes that meaning to them in the was the social identity of San Femandian youth which is the chief instrument
course of his interat:tion with them. The meaning is not given in the object, but is in its production. In this view, Rastafari (see chapter 4) represented the accu-
lodged there as the person acquires a conception of the kind of action that can be
mulation of fixed capital: the religion served as a form of reinvestment of sur-
taken w ith, by, toward, and for it. Meaning arises in the course of social interaction.
pluses necessary for improving production , product, and demand. The ritual
deriving their character from the consensus participants develop about the o bject in
question. (Becker 1963). consumption of its own marijuana on a block concretely reproduced block
members as producers of marijuana.
For example, "unconventional and deviant" effects of marijuana a timer in This view of marijuana, as a value created by economic activity on the city
San Fernando might have chosen in the 1970s could have included reasonably: blocks (see chapter 3), opened up a fresh perspective on the marijuana eco-
" love and togetherness" and "cool" -especially in the face of mounting pub- nomic system , which relates its peculiar functioning , the uniqueness of the
lic and police antagonism, or in a context in which violent "bad john" behav- forms of social organization required to sell it, and the unique Rastafari de-
ior and unemployment aggravated the responsibilities of increasing age ; and velopment concurrent wi th it withi n a single conceptual framework , which is
" constructive" ideation- or practical means of escaping poverty and self-de- the po litical economy of drugs.
feating despair; and a foundation upon which renewed, invigorated personali-
ties might grow. Of course, these have been the very effects which marijuana.
in the context of the ganja complex, was reported and observed to have had
over the twenty-year ( 1965 to 1985) period upon many Caribbean users.
Becker's arguments and the field evidence in this book, which adds to his
perspective the economic factor of buying and selling which pervades con-
temporary drug phenomena, imply that marijuana (or drugs) derives symbolic
energies from the social milieu in which it was used; and that it was as such
a symbol that it had any important effects upon human behavior. T hus mari-
juana is a cultural good; and ganja, as consumed at least by the core users-
unemployed limers turned Rastafari block leaders and Rastafari brethren -
was different from the substance (madi-juana) which drives users insane,
sends them to sleep , re nders them "amoti vational," encourages partying and
scandal, or causes " psychomotor impairment," flawed judgment, reckless or
violent be havior, lowering of body temperature and respiratory depression,
apathy and mental slowing, impaired memory and learning (brain damage)
and impaired immune response.
Among unemployed San Fernandians, marijuana was the social rearrange-
ment occun·ing among them-a historical process, described in chapters 1
 Chapter 8

The Informal Economy

In this research, ganja was smoked because "it keeps me cool," "it brings to-
getherness," "it makes me think constructive," and "it makes me see the
light." These were properties the substance did not possess before 1968. Be-
fore that date , it was called "marijuana" by those of the island's citizens who
had heard of it and had the same sinister reputation which films like Reefer
Madness depicted. By contrast, redolent of antiquity as well as reflecting the
complexities of contemporay neocolonialism , ganja revives the ancient Asian
ganja complex, adapting it to urgent present-day needs.
Thus , the contemporary ganja acquired its specific beneficial properties
from an act of production; and the chief instrument in this productive activ-
ity was a social identity. Elements of this social identity were being you ng,
urban, African , unemployed, and marginalized. Such a person could buy a
raw vegetable material of variable quality from its growers, if he had the
money; and by virtue of his possession of it, by virtue of the kind of drama
he staged by incorporating it, created a consumer commodity, a cultural good
with widely acclaimed educational and therapeutic effects.
This method of production of ganja had become more efficient over the
years since 1968, and the quality and reliability of effects of ganja thus pro-
duced had improved proportionately, attracting a greater and more varied clien-
tele . These cultural/economic activities had therefore become self-sufficient
and self-perpetuating.
The term "mode of production" describes an economic system which is
thus able to reproduce itself. In defining " the capitalist mode of production ,"
for example, Karl Marx specified a peculiar system of production, circula-
tion, distribution, consumption, and exchange . He then identified unique
forms of social relationships, in this case property relations, which allow the

161
162 Chapter 8 The Info rmal c·conomr 163

system to function in its peculiar way and then speculated upon the role of po- of military services, and appeals to loyalties of place, rel igion, language, and
litical and intellectua l life generally, in reproducing the mode of production. custom. Accumulated surplus labor was rendered in kind; the exploiter had
Similarly, the system of production, circulation. distribution, consumption, rights to a portion of land, or to its produce, or to a fixed number of laborhours
and exchange which uses ganja as the medium of exchange performs in traditional enterprises.
uniquely. The term "precapitalist" is used to capture this unique quality. It en- lf productivity is to be increased in such a system, the exploiters of labor
compasses those features which distinguished this system from the main- must aggress against the direct producer or laborer in annexing a greater por-
stream capitalist economy, but suggests the possibility of movement from tion of land or produce or must violate custom, in demanding longer hours or
''precapitalist"' to ''capita list,'' as well as the mutual antagonism between the greater effort. The exploiters of labor in this system , unfree to increase pro-
two systems. ductivity without naked aggression, unfree to disengage labor from subsis-
The unique functionin g of this economic system was determined by the so- tence activity on ancestral land , are also unfree with respect to accumulated
cial relationships of production - involving the block, cultivators, the police- labor, or capital.
and their continuing evolution in Trinidad's social history. These same social The ganja mode of production in Trinidad during this research more re-
relationships were the key features which distinguished the ganja mode of pro- sembled the feudal or precapitalist mode, which predates and anteccdes it,
duction from its capitalist counte rpart. In this view, Rastafari supplied the than the capitalist economy. While the Rastafari block leader (artfully
"hearts and minds" which operated this peculiar economy. dressed up in " Ethiopian raiment"' and appearing as an ancient trader rather
than as a modern businessman) had to buy and sell in order to produce val-
ues, he e ntered into unique social-productive relations . In the ganja mode of
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF production , for example, labor was also unfree. It was mobilized and ex-
THE GANJA MODE OF PRODUCTION ploited by appeal to relig iopolitical sentiments . Associates typical ly re-
ceived ganja, c lothes , shelter, "1-tal" food , religious and cultural instruc tion ,
An economic system is distinctive in the way labor is extorted and utilized, and generous cash gifts in recompen se for their labor. At the same time , the
and in the way accumulated labor surpluses - or capital-accrues to the con- latter was underutilized and geared only toward self-sufficiency. Capital
trollers of labor and is redistributed by them. In the capitalist or money sys- was consequently unfree: it was absorbed, so to speak, in reproducing the
tem, for example, labor is extorted from laborers by appeal to the ideology of social-productive relations which created it, and the latter also determined
the wage. The wage, being the only contract between exploiters of labor and the distinctive manner in which it is redistributed.
laborers, renders both "free." Tied to one another neither by bonds of personal In the ganja mode of production , therefore, labor was controlled, not by the
dependence or fealty nor by the imperatives of a subsistence economy, labor- ideology of the wage, but by the very special notion that all participants
ers are " free'' to sell their labor to the highest bidder; while the exploiters of should " forward ever," meaning by this precept not only the attainment of
labor are free to combine labor and capital in any enterprise, so long as it is material self-sufficiency (in the larger urban context of deprivation and in-
the most lucrative. The wage is " freely" and "competitively'' negotiated. Thus creasing povery), but spiritual growth, or becoming more truly and sincerely
increments in both freedom and competi tion are continuously essential, if Rastafari. Gregory stayed with Vim , or Buen Retiro with Botts, because each
productivity in this system is to be raised. Many institutions of private and young man was seeking a certain enlightenment by '·going through the stages
public life in capitalist systems serve to fulfill this condition . Social-produc- of the ganja'' to " the light." T he block leaders Vim and Botts helped to instill
tive re lations are stamped by ideologies of "freedom" and "competition": la- this yearni ng or spiritual quest better than any number of other options open
borer competes against laborer. exploiter against exploiter. one class agai nst to Buen Retiro and Gregory. Labor was manifestly bound to the exploiters of
the other, each thus savoring its "freedom ." Capital accumulation in the cap- labor in this religiopolitical activity, and the re lation was indissoluble as long
ital ist system has taken place so calculably that, in its developed forms , the as the activity was uninterrupted and advanced.
distinction between capital and labor becomes useless both in theory and on A brisk wrapper like Buen Retiro on Botts's block could roll forty-seven
the ground. joints , worth $4 7, in fifteen minutes. To wrap out a pound in joints, then , took
Feudal society offers an example of yet another kind of mode of production. about five hours. To wrap it out in 3-bags, 5-bags, 10-pieces ($3, $5, $10), or
The exploitation of labor was justified by kinship arrangements, the exchange ounces took proportionately less time for corresponding decreases in earnings .
164 Chapter 8 The Informal F.cmwmy 165

On larger San Femandian blocks, some ten hours had to be spent on this activ- ment of labor and capital. Other investment was also dictated by pursuit of
ity every two or three days, or about thirty hours a week. In New York City. "the light," such as farms, gardens , flocks of goats and chickens, taxis, and
where the volume and rate of sales were much higher, large blocks average coops , which allowed for further pooling of manageme nt skills and labor.
about a pound a day. Labor , thus bound, was "unfree" in the economic sense too: it could not be
Every two or three days in Trinidad, or at least once a week, the block leader transferred to other branches of economic activity, fo llowing hig her returns of
or his delegate had to make a trip to the countryside to purchase marijuana. profit. Gregory would not become a commercial farmer hired by Vim . He wou ld
The trip could take as little as three hours ; but usuall y the block leader spent do a specific type of agriculture which provided self-suffic iency in order to grow
the e ntire day visiting many planters, looking for better quality or a bargain , closer to ·•natural" things and to he confirmed in Rastafari . As his garden grew,
and passed many hours simply cultivating the appearance of leisure and non- his hair grew, and his spirit also. Capital was thus equally constrained: it cannot
chalance, by having a meal or stopping to buy fruits, as a strategem for avoid- be "freely" joined to capital and labor fo r competitive economic aims.
ing police attention and returning home safely with the contraband in tow.
While th e block leader was away, other associates were obliged to se ll at
Primacy of Social Relations of Production
the block leader 's house throughout the day, with the heaviest sales tak ing
place between 3:00 and 10:00 P.M . Sometimes the block leader did not use his The ganja mode of production performed uniquely because the persons en-
home , but shifting locations in the vicinity, as the venue for sales . Block gaged in it were united in unique social relationships. For it to continue to
leader also wanted their associates to sell marijuana at dances or other large perform in th is manner. perso ns had to remain unsynd icated growers, un-
public gatherings. Few customers, such as workers on the midnight shift or g uilded urban producers, and the po lice had to continue to act in an uncoor-
nightclub personnel and patrons, came later than 2:00 or 3:00A.M., or before dinated fas hio n if and when they joined the traffic .
6:00 or 8:00A.M. A pound of mariju ana was sold in two o r three days.
In sum , at least 120 hours a week were spent on the block selling mari-
Unsyndicated Growers
juana, about 30 hours in wrapping and about I0 hours in buying . A total of
160 hours a week were thus spent on producing two pounds of marijuana on The cultivators of marijuana had to operate under the constraints they had im-
a block in San Fernando in the late 1970s. On Stanley 's block or Vim's, where posed upon themselves in 1977 , when they were observed in rural Trinidad. Typ-
there were four and more associates available, an indi vidual person con- ically, this category of persons had become engaged in marijuana cultivatio n for
tributed 27 hours weekly on average; in Navet and La Romaine, where there certain exchange purposes onl y: to acquire a house and land and to begin some
were nine dreads, 15 hours; with Botts or M atos, even fe wer hours are re- legitimate enterprise which ensured self-employm ent, social status, moderate in-
quired to attain self-sufficiency in the ganja traffic, leaving associates ple nty come, and self-sufficiency. Growers did not compete with one another to sur-
of time to devote to other pursuits. vive, so that the prices they charged for their marijuana were often wildly idio-
Many of those unutili zed hours or s urpluses are spent, as noted earlier, on syncratic , making it worth the buyer 's while to shop around . They grew a
the spiri tual journey in search of "the light." For example, up to a quarter of maximum of 2,000 mol<; for a couple of seasons, and when they had accumu-
each po und of marijuana was consumed by the block leader and his associ- lated about$ 100,000. went out of business. The early Indian m iddle-aged grow-
ates: a goodly portion of the product or value in this system was therefore ers were replaced eventually by Rastafari brethren , for whom an impo rtant and
immediately consumed by its producers. Labor in the production of ganja as primary aim of cultivation is to have the best-grow n marijuana for their personal
a consumer good possessed that special skill by wh ic h production was possi- use, and by younger Indians who have been heavily influenced by the Rastafari .
ble at all: a particular social identity. In thi s system , therefore, fixed capital, Thus this type of grower was not responsive econo mically to increased de-
or the surplus consumed in maintain ing , reple nishing , and improving the in- mand . He did not bring more acreage under c ultivation. he did not employ
struments of production , was an ongoing historical process, or the one in more labor or invest in technolog ical improvement (unless, as in the case of
which personalities had moved from being petty criminal, street corner limers the Rastafari , to improve the qua lity and enjoyment of the ganja the grower
to Rastafari brethren operating a block. It was this history which had to be ac- himself smoked) , and he did not stay longer in production. lf demand had re-
cumulated and aggrandi zed if production was to be sustained or to become sulted in increased culti vation and quality, as indeed it had , it had done so by
more efficient. This "accum ulation" was then the purpose of much invest- stimulating more g rowers rathe r th an by altering a gr ower 's motivation .
166 Chapter 8 The Informal Ermwmr 167

These motivations of cultivators had acted as a curb against their becom- demand which the Carnival season would generate, the price of ganja had
ing syndicated . lf growers had been syndicated, and all cultivation had been climbed from $300 to $600 per pound . San Fernando blocks were experienc-
brought under oligopolistic control, they would have found themselves the ing great difficulty to secure adequate su pplies even at that price.
few owners of a huge agribusinesses . They would have dictated all economic In the first week of January, a violent confrontation had flared up between
conditions in the system, especia ll y with respect to labor and its costs , and two blocks. It was the first battle over territory to be fought in the ganja traf-
they would have been able to coerce labor, by withhold ing supplies and re- fic since the very earliest days of use and distribution, when the brethren had
muneration or by force. Capital would have accrued to them calculably and been inexperienced in both, younger, and had not converted to Rastafari. O ne
manipulably. block leader, a Rastafari who was nevertheless heavil y connected with
shango and occult practices, had managed to buy fifteen pounds of mature,
well-cured ganja at a bargain price of $350 a pound . He had sent one of hi s
Unguilded Urban Producers
associates further up their street, where another well-known block had been
A similar result would ha ve occurred if the c ity blocks had restricted recruit- suffering scarcity and had only a very little, low-grade marijuana for sale. Or-
ment to their ranks, contained the proliferation of blocks , or even reduced dinarily, the sell ing operations would have remai ned exclusive, and members
their present number. On the contrary. the emergence of Rastafari was evi- of either block would have mingled at either location amicably.
dence that the very opposite processes were in fact at work. Rastafari had The young associate had bee n repulsed. One of the older members of the
been the means by which greater numbers had become aware of their pro- ailing block pleaded with the young man. He explained that he had a case in
ductive capacity, and by which the social-productive relations on the block court the following day and needed whatever the block could earn that
had been reproduced. Of course, Rastafari itself persisted because high rates evening to spend on lawyers and other legal costs in the morning. When the
of unemployment and social marginalization affected additional cohorts of younger man refused to budge , the other slapped him. Soon afterward, the
youth , or more recruits. young man , hi s block leader, and other supporters returned and severely pum-
meled members of the other block. A day later, the auackers were themselves
ambushed at the San Fernando jetty, where they had gone to bathe, and two
The Police
of them were chopped with cutlasses.
Finally. the uniqueness of the ganja mode of production depended upon po- At this juncture, the aggressing block leader comm itted himself in a fash-
lice activi ty. First, it would have been difficult for planters to become syndi- ion which drew sharp censure throughout the network of San Fernandian
cated or producers guilded in the Trinidadian situation (or for that matter. in blocks. He contracted three gangsters or hitmen from Port-of-Spain - three
New York C ity a few years later) without police consent and active support. "mafia," as they were called - to retaliate, and paid them a fee of $2,000.
An attempt to do so without them would have succeeded only if it<> authors A week later, minutes after the three mafia had returned $ 1,400 to the block
had produced armed strength which seriously rivaled the police force 's. leader and had declined to fulfi ll the contract, a car pulled up at his house.
Among the occupants was a man who bore the block leader a grudge. He had
just returned from prison , and had complained that the block leader had
AN EXEMPLIFYING CASE: framed him and had had him imprisoned in order to steal his girlfriend. The
CARNIVAL 1979 IN SAN FERNANDO ex-prisoner had heard of the block leader's latest "corruption," or the contract
killing of coreligionists, and, on this fateful day. had leapt from from the car
Proof that the unique features c laimed for the ganja economic system did ex- brandishing a cutlass. Before escaping, he had badly wounded the block
ist, or had existed during the period described , was afforded by the events of leader and an associate. Both me n had to be rushed to the hospital, and in the
the 1979 Carnival in San Fernando , which were introduced in chapter 6. melee which followed the attack , the fifteen pounds of the "1-riest" (best)
In Jul y 1978, as part of their DEA-inspired intensification of the war ganja at that time circulating in San Fernando had been promptly stolen by an
agai nst marijuana , the police introduced light surveillance aircraft; and from unidentified bystander.
July to December, raids by joint army and police units destroyed an unprece- In February, the price of marijuana had risen sharply from $650 to $850 per
dented number of fields. During January I 979 , a month before the enormous pound, and more and more block leaders were returning from the countryside
16H Chaprer 8 The Informal Economy 169

empty-handed . There. multiple daily flights of the surveillance aircraft had Rastafari were imprisoned; none was released until Ash Wednesday, when
thoroughl y demoralized the growers.ln the city, blocks closed, and a count at Carnival was over. The blocks which had been attacked had been the very
the end of the month found only forty-two remaining in operation. ones which had continued to sell the su pplies they had previously rece ived
Two weeks before Carnival, which began on February 23. ganja was avail- from Darius 1 San Fernandi ans were convinced that that had been the reaso n
able only at Darius's block . A daily roll-call of the re maining San Fernando for the raids against them.
blocks could be taken by an observer posted in the roseau bush from whic h All the consequences for the ganja mode of production arising from a situ-
Darius did business. Darius, possessing the capital necessary to buy the avail- ation of syndicated supply vers us coordinated police activity had already been
able supplies and enjoying the confidence of the planters, had managed to realized : Darius and the police had dictated prices. labor had been controlled.
comer the entire San Fernando market, and had stood as the only e ffective the large number of blocks had dwindled to a few. and capita l flowed to e ither
mediator between planters and block leaders. At his block, Darius could be Darius or the police, in spite of the social arrange ments on blocks which con-
overheard advising his buyers to raise their prices, because he feared that a strained its acc umulation or outflow, and which had earlier determi ned its re-
dark age of scarcity and high prices had begun. In that very week , his recom- di stribution. Indeed , these social arrangements were visited with violence .
mended price- $ 1.50 per joint - had become the standard in San Fernando.
Smaller joints, containing Jess than a gram of marijuana , had been rolled;
while Darius's favorites amo ng the block leaders benefited from prefe rential THE INFORMAL ECONOMIC SECTOR
prices and a guaranteed supply.
A week before Carnival , however, Darius was arrested for the eighth time in The precapitalist mode of production that developed in Trinidad around the ex-
his marijuana-distributing career. After a weekend in pri son, he returned to his traction of value from marijuana has remained in a highly unstable state orga-
block but had to refrain from business. Police squads were patrolling the main nizationally. While its continued existence has been guaranteed by worsening
road leading from San Fernando to his home in the country continuously. As ex- rates of unemployment and social marginalization , its shape has fluctuated
citement for Carnival was building in the final days before Jour Ouvert (the strut with conditions affecting the supply of ganja , and wi th changing relationships
of Carnival at 3:00 A.M. on the Monday before Ash Wednesday), a shipment of between the principal actors involved . Nonetheless the emergence of this
what was rumored to be imported "Colombie" (marijuana from Colombia) was mode of production has been decisive in Trinidadian and Caribbean sociology.
released on the city. At $1 ,200 , it had apparently originated on a block in San It has altered the understandings of their social terrain which Trinidadians had
Juan , a town in the northeast corridor. It had quickly appeared on all the blocks themse lves and , as a result , has forced theorists to reconsider the type of so-
in Port-of-Spain, and block leaders there had diverted a shipment to San cioeconomic formation Tri nidad and Tobago is , the types of social classes
Fernando. By the weekend before Carnival , all the remaining blocks in San Fer- there are, and the sorts of changes the formation is likely to undergo .
nando, barring a few notable ones, were selling it. The ganja was compressed In the first place, the e mergence of th is mode of production transports the
and brownish in color, quite unlike the fresh stocks usually available. Trinidadian case outside of its customary social science am bience. It is no
Many San Fem andians believed that the " imported Colombie" was in fact longer a quaint, unique, tropical , anglophone meeting place of races, schooled
not imported marijuana at all , but a pressed Tr inidadian product which was in European traditions , and tucked away in the American underbe ll y. Tnstead
fetching an exorbitant price. They also believed that the distribution chain, it j oins rank with a legion of populations worldwide under similar pressures
which originated in San Juan, extended eastwru·d to Port-of-Spain , and then of unemploy ment, migration, and inflation (produced in contexts of increas-
as far south as Cedros, was being protected and encouraged by the police . ing industrialization and urbanization) which have developed economic
There seemed to have been a battle. therefore , between Darius's " Iokey" (lo- strategies for survival exhibiting features similar to those described in this
cal marij uana) and the "police's imported ." study. A growing literature has located them th roughout Africa and Asia, in
On the Saturday before Carnival , a convoy of army trucks and police cars, both rural and urban areas; in Sicily and southern Italy; in Lati n America; and
guided by police he licopters, drove into San Fernando. They stopped fi rst on in the ghettos of metropol itan centers. Often these populations are not only
Coffee Street , where they arrested. chained, handcuffed , and removed the en- large but form national maj orities (see preface) .
tire personnel of two blocks; they then proceeded to Pleasantville and Navet, Similar features which these economic strategies share include: an al-
where they arrested all the members of blocks they could find. O ver 200 most complete independence fro m forei gn investment, re latively low labor
170 Chapter li The b!formal Economy 17 1

productivity. and low or limited growth rates. In nearly every country oped to link profits to wages. A small dominant population, comprising own-
where they ex ist, these structures are unprotected , unstable , illegal, and ha- ers of the means of production , institutes the val ues of individual ism, compe-
rassed by officialdom. Participan ts have no access to ordinary channels of tition, and the free market wi thin itself. so that members com pete with one
cred it and are subject to all sorts of legal and administrative controls - another to expand producrion and increase profits. Their competitive urge ,
denial of licenses and slum demolition being ubiquitous. Competition enormous profits, the imperatives to find consumers and to maintain stabi lity
sometimes causes conflict among participants who are alread y w ithout allows other core populati ons to be competitively incorporated into wage em-
hea lth or welfare provisions to serve them. and who have no c la im to in- ployment and even o wnership of capital. ln core natio ns , therefore, groups
su rance , pens ions. or o ld-age benefits. compete more or less smoothly with relative success, and rejuvenate in myr-
At the same time, varieties of a common philosophical orientation and of iad ways the institutions of the free market. The burden of maintaining these
an ideal of social life are seen to flo urish. Participants arc proud of skills and priv ileged populations, however, is borne increasi ngly by "peripheral" popu-
learning they have acqui red outside the schools, the state-supported churches. lations at the center and in the peripheral nations themselves.
and the employee-tra ining programs administered by the off icial economic In the latter, therefore, the makeup of the social fo rmation represents a to-
and cultural institutions. They arc pro ud of their deve lopment of indigenous tall y different raison d'etre. Populations are also hierarchized in an even
resources and of the adaptive technologies they have created, which suit the fi ercer com petition. but in order to aid the exploitati on and transfer of local
basic needs of the poor, in whose midst they exist. They idealize the strengths resources and values to core countries. Dominan t groups or modernizing
of the socia l networks by which they are supported - famil y and other small- e lites in the typical peripheral nation protect foreign enterprises which man-
scale organizational fonns -and wh ich are also the primary units in their in- age vital local resources, and their small corps of nonexpatriate or local wage
formal, extralegal economic enterprises. employees . Locally dominant pop ulations, therefore . have no control over
The worldwide emergence of economic systems or modes of production production, which is for the most part consumed abroad , yielding profi ts, fur-
such as the ones descri bed exhausts the usefulness of the usual approaches to ther prod ucti ve capacity, and a greater outlay on wages and labor welfare
these popu lations attcnnpted by social scientists . For those who have labe led there. In the bus iness of protection r ather than of national husband ry, profits
them ''residual,'' their majority status in some countries is an embarrassment. which accrue to them in the form of taxes and other government revenues, po-
Those who have argued that these are populations caught in transition, ex- litical privilege, and brokerage between foreign manufacturing and local con-
hibiting merely features appropriate to an as yet incomplete penetration of sumers or land ownership are jealously guarded. Since there are no social or
capitalist organizat ion. find them strengthened in 1979, or created afresh. cultural press ures to increase local produ ction or to develop local val ues
Similarly, the proponents of the d ual economy, who contrast "modern" ver- around locally felt needs, the police or anny is used to pacify the small labor
sus "traditional" world views, cannot account for the novel, contemporary for- force and to control those unassim ilable by wage employment.
mation of the latter, in nontribal, nonstatic, nontraditional Trinidad and To- ln peripheral nations, the institutio ns of the free market abort. Com petition
bago, especiall y when the islands were be ing extensively modernized. is not accomm odated so comfortably. Guarding few resources which cannot
Instead the universality of the phenomena reviewed in this book has sug- be replenished. dominant elites in peripheral nations begrudge the laboring
gested a world system approach, which seeks to explore relationships within classes their share, while both elites and working classes are beleaguered by
the capitalist bloc of nations, through which surpluses are extracted from pe- the unanswerable demands of the excluded, who cannot be employed. In th is
ripheral nations and are accumulated at the centers , or core nations (Waller- context, liberal senti ments do not take root easily.
stein 1976). In thi s approach , populations within the capitalist world system Ganja makes me n "see the light." In the study of econom ic systems such
are competitively hierarchi zed, both within nations and in the bloc of nations as the ganja system, the reasonableness of these assertio ns concern ing the na-
as a whole. Periphery and core are differentiated , since populations at the core tu re of the capital ist world system and of the social classes participating in it
are socially and economically organized to absorb surpluses generated world- can be demonstrated with reference to process ual data drawn fro m everyday
wide; while in the periphera l nations, social and economic structures serve to life. The degrees of insertion of capitalist structures among populations which
aid in the transfer of surpluses to the core. cannot all derive benefit fro m them can be gauged ; and a c ri tical point can be
In core nations, where conformity and stability are essential for the m ain- determined, on one side of which the insertion is successful and allows for the
tenance of global enterprises, strong social and cultural pressures have devel- peaceable reproduction of the world system, while on the other side , the
172 Chapter 8 The Informal Ec:onomv 173

whole system - its social, economic, and cultural institutions-begins to Throughout this study, attention has been drawn to the susceptibility of
crumble. poorly paid workers to Rastafari and to their willingness to become involved
Thus in the Trinidadian case under study, the adoption of ganja (which un- in economic activities modeled upon the ganja system. Where the unem-
derwrote the rapid growth of the ganja economic system), when taken in the ployed often blurred the distinction between themselves and labor by taki ng
context of soaring prices for all the culturally approved foreign commodities, up casual , temporary wage employment when available , now many with per-
meant a positive and timel y adaptation in working-class household budgets. manent employment seek out al ternative self-employment strategies.
In the account of the "marijuana" user of chapter 7, the outlays on alcohol and This development rests on a tremendous cultural/motivational reorienta-
marijuana can be compared . At $ 100 and more per twenty-six-ounce bottle of tion. In the first place, the worker who involves himself in such economic ac-
imported Scotch whisky- that is, the highly priced varieties which status tivities, especially if they are illegal, makes equi valent two types of curricu-
competition would have compe lled the young man to buy - alcohol is many lum vitae which are usua lly kept distinct: on the one hand, progressively
times more expensive. Similarly, the acceptability of Rastafari handmade accredited disciplines in the workplace, at home, in church , and in other or-
shoes and sandals, as opposed to Guccis or Famolares (retailing at over $600 ganizations befitting equals; on the other hand, risk of arrest, the venturing of
a pair) responds to the diminishing value of the worker's dollar. The taste for quick losses and profits, and association with unsavory social types.
vegetarian food, and especially those with ' ·folk" credentials, though ignored In the second place , the worker comes to question the desirability of hith-
in "official" diets - eddoes, dasheens, yams, okras, green bananas, and bitter erto unquestioned values. Why the air-conditioned salon , why the imported
gourds as valued substitutes for imported rice, potatoes, sweet peas, and car- shoes and clothes, why the imported meats , rice, and potatoes? His stock of
rots - has the same pragmatic reference. tastes and consumer expectations therefore undergoes change.
In other countries, the subsidies which these economic decisions lend to Finally, in self-employment strategies, the qualities of thrift, hard effort,
formal economic activity in peripheral countries, by reconciling compara- planning. labor management, and innovative thought are abundantly evident. If
tively low wages to rising prices . are pervasive in every area of life. Haircuts these economies operate under the constraints of poor returns, low labor pro-
under mango trees instead of in air-conditioned salons. lunches and snacks ductivity, and slow growth rates, this is not on account of faults inherent in them
served hot to workers by itinerant vendors rather than the company's canteen, and their operators , but on account of structural and political disadvantages.
cars repaired with old tin cans rather than with the proper imported s pare In sum, the elements of an anticapitalist, noncompetiti ve, nonethnic, un i-
parts, the endless recycling of discarded materials (oil drums , boxes, plastic versalistic and third-worldist, antineocolonialist ideology have assembled
containers) into consumer articles or pieces of art-all conspire to keep around the everyday activities of survival among peripheral populations .
peripheral labor self-reproducing cheaply in comparison to the labor force in Within are the potentials for real development as opposed to modernization:
core countries. Tn this manner, the unequal exchange between core and the correct identification of local needs and the creation of strategies and
periphery, as represented in differential wage structures. is maintained. technologies to meet them.
At the same time, these activities and the peculiar frame of mind developed When, in peripheral nations, the tenuously substantiated sociocultural in-
in those who conduct them pose a more serious threat to the continued capi- stitutions of capitalism are simultaneously challenged , "law and order" re-
talist insertion than organized wage labor, or the class struggle, as tradition- mains the only justification for goverment, and the police becomes the most
ally conceived. viable governmental agency.
In peripheral countries. the working class, or the classes participating at This situation ex isted during the 1970s , or the period of research, through-
subordi nate levels in wage employment , are small in addition to being out the Caribbean where the police and Rastafari were engaged in a running
poorly paid. As a result, trade union activity has relevance for only a minor- battle in Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica , Grenada, and Guyana. In Jamaica, as
ity of workers. Political parties organized around trade unions are frag- in the South American nation of Colombia, the ganja traffic, enriched (and ex -
mented and lack mass support. At the same time a powerfu l symbiosis has ploited) through international export connections, has upset the economic
grown up among poorly paid workers-the majority of those employed - profiles of these countries , placing the political order in an unprecedented
and the une mployed: the production of cheaper, local values to replace im- state of anxiety.
ported ones. as in the ganja economy, is helpful in the desperate struggle to If the importance of economic systems such as the one described in this
survive. book is granted, and if the place of such systems in the capitalist world system
174 Chapter 8
Chapter 9
is correctly identified, then attention is to be paid to the forms of protest and
resistance which are advanced against the aggression directed at them. Vege-
tarianism, techniques of self-renewal. and global ecological perpectives are
U.S.-Caribbean
viewed as revolutionary praxis, when conformity and "absorption" close other Drug Connections
revolutionary options (Breines 1972). In Trinidad, vegetarianism, techniques
of self-renewal and the assumption of global ecological commitments arc
"fighting" matters.
In Trinidad, as in other peripheral-capitalist territories, these concerns are
not only ideological, as this study has shown: they involve eminently prag-
matic activities which are created to ensure survival- a concrete purpose.
Furthermore, they are the rallying point-especially since survival is the is-
sue- for more populations than can be reached by appeals to the "working
class" (or to the unemployed, for that matter). In short, these concerns iden-
tify a force which is revolutionary almost in spite of itself.
Thus the combination of alternative economy, manned by distinctly organized
personnel, fueled by motivations contrary to maximal profit-making and com- An important aspect of the story of the ganja complex which the previous chap-
petition, and expressed in terms of religion, tradition, and personal self-renewal, ters have reported was its transference across centuries, national boundaries, and
is also imbued with theoretical revolution. While in the core countries with racial/ethnic barriers. In particular, it illustrated how busy the interconnections
which it is especially concerned, left-wing politics can discover no coherent po- between the islands and nations of the Caribbean Basin and the United States
litical formation coalescing around the revolutionary praxis it views as timely, in are . Some details of the migration from these countries to the United States were
peripheral territories, the same praxis is the occasion for bloodshed. The chief given, as well as many facts about the international distribution and sale of mar-
defect of critical theory therefore resides in its failure to examine capitalism in ijuana . In this chapter, a more general treatment of these U .S .-Caribbean drug
its global setting, or as a world system. connections is offered , and arguments are made to supp01t further U.S. inter-
"Working class politics" and "the proletarian revolution" have also been up- vention, in the form of financial aid for services and basic research.
staged by the actual practices of the Trinidadian political actors described in this Since the 1960s , drug trends in America have been inextricably bound up
study. The revolutionary praxis which has emerged around the concrete quest with those in the region. This book has documented how thi s symbiosis grew
for self-sufficiency and around an ethic of disciplined wants is aimed at the with th onset of marijuana use . Begi nning first among European American
equation of progress with expanded production which "working class politics" "counterculturaJ" youths, marijuana smoking was next diffused to young
has never questioned. Instead, the proletarian disputes only the ownership and Caribbean Africans on the islands, where the experience facilitated trans-
control of the expanded production. Outside the confrontation of workers with plantation of the Indian ganj a complex, stimulated cultivation and Rastafari,
owners of the means of production, however, is the confrontation of this con- and streamlined the drug's international distribution, before it was returned to
tradictory system as a whole with the conditions of continued physical survival low-income neighborhoods and immigrant enclaves in major U.S. cities, to
on this planet. It is in the latter balance that the ideology of infinitely expand- be embraced by fresh cohorts of African Americans. Latinos , and European
ing production weighs most ominously: and it is here also that the revolution- Americans .
ary praxis described seeks to make its permanent contribution. In his other works , this researcher shows how those ties were intensif ied
when cocaine hydrochloride powder was introduced . The practice of cocaine
smoking may have originated on the islands (Hamid 1992) . The emergence
of the Colombian cartels was a f ateful development in U .S.- Caribbean drug
connections . These cocaine distributors launched a full scale campaign to
induct the islands and the circum-Cari bbean and Latin American nations into
cocaine transshipment . The governmen ts and ad ministrations of several

175
176 Chapter Y US.-Caribbean Drug Connections 177

islands, including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas that launder funds. Despite commercial benefits Miami derives from its
were courted and won over by the Colombians. Caribbean location and Latin population, the city does not have a monopoly
One of the most notorious of these cooptations occurred in Haiti. The Hait- on the flow of capital. Miami encounters strong competition from offs hore
ian military was able to maintain itself in power in 1992 to 1994, surviving an banking centers in the Caribbean which operate primarily as tax havens .
embargo and defying world opinion, because of their drug revenues. Drug traffickers look for ways to hide and launder the cash they obtain
Colonel Manuel Noreiga of Panama, in partnership with Colonel Oliver from drug transactions. Some of them , as well as law enforcement officers,
North and with President George H. Bush's apparent approval, was responsi- have explained how money laundering is carried out, in depositions and te s~
ble for much of the cocaine which flooded the streets of North American timony in law cases, news stories, and autobiographies. A major purpose of
cities (Cockburn 1989). offshore banks is to launder money back into the United States . A typical
Social conditions in the Caribbean will continue to produce fresh genera- money-laundering process involves five steps: money is transferred to a se-
tions of youths who will be open to the appeals of migration abroad, drug use cret haven abroad; lawyers create a shell corporation; funds are deposited in
and trafficking, and other crime. the name of a dummy corporation in a cooperative local bank; money is trans-
Enlightened self-interest, therefore, is a compelling reason the United States ferred to a larger international bank; and the corporation borrows money from
should be particularly concerned about drug phenomena in the Caribbean. the international bank. In order to stop these operations, the U.S. government
Like the cocaine-smoking epidemic of 1981 to 1991, future drug fashions may requires declaration of sums larger than $10,000 when anyone leaves the
originate on these islands. Rapid assessments of drug trends throughout the country. But drug couriers or other operatives launder money and are not ap-
hemisphere is thus as important as those undertaken in the continental United prehended . Often they are trained accountants and lawyers, who also have the
States. Indeed the latter alone are misleading, as they are out of context. expertise to help their employers invest their revenues in boats, businesses ,
There are many areas of U .S.-Caribbean drug connections which are of the stock market, and commercial and residential real estate (Maingot 1988).
crucial importance, some of which are described below. Several islands now have established drug relationships with immigrant
communities in the United States. This book has described how m ultiplex
these relationships are between Trinidad and the islands of the Lesser Antilles
TOURISM and New York City. Jamaicans also have extensive ties linking their island
with communities in the northeast and F lorida, and many Jamaican commu-
Especially germane to the issues (to be discussed below) of revival of drug nities rely heavily on their drug distributors, who send food , clothes , shoes ,
practices, AIDS, and crime is the greatly increased tourism linking North and other necessities to sustai n families and whole communities (Gunst
America to the islands and nations of the circum-Caribbean. Yearly, several 1997) . The Dominican Republic has also entered as a major player in cocaine
hundred thousand U.S. citizens visit resorts in these locations, some with the redistribution. Long a nation which maintained extensive return migration
express intention of engaging local persons in sex work and drug use. Al- links with the United States (Hendricks 1977), especially in such neighbor-
though the cocaine-smoking epidemic has now subsided, cocaine smoking hoods as Washington Heights, the Dominican Republic multiplied its rate of
lingers on in places like Martinique and St. Lucia, and may be waiting to re- sending migrants in the late 19gos, when the Colombian cartels adopted it as
engage new segments of the U.S. population. a transshipment depot. Certain towns in the Dominican Republic have been
transformed by the influx of drug revenues and the export of young men to
communities in New York City, where they serve in the street-level cocaine
FINANCE AND MONEY LAUNDERING traffic.
As this book has argued, the rise in drug consumption in the United States oc-
The ties between the United States and the region's nations are made more in- curred simultaneously with the crisis in traditional sectors of Caribbean
extricable by the extensive financial exchanges between them. For example, economies caused by the American-sponsored modernization and development
the drug trade represents the largest single financial link between Miami and plans (see chapter 1), and the marijuana and drug traffic was the attempt at resti-
the Caribbean. The Miami banking system is the crucial connection between tution and repair which the young affected persons on the Caribbean islands had
the financier, the seller, the market, and the offshore centers and tax havens made. The drug trade thus filled an economic vacuum in these countries. Profits
17R Chapter 9 U.S.-Caribbean Drug Connection.~ 179

from the drug trade, however, arc only part of a much larger informal economy While the marijuana traffic was conducted relatively peacefully from the
in Caribbean countries. Many island economies are heavily dependent on their 1960s to 198 I, ri sing rates of criminal offending occurred simultaneously
citizens who work abroad in the immigrant communities. with the introduction of cocaine in the early 1980s.
In Jamaica, the postindependence period (after 1962) saw a gradual in-
crease in crime, with violent crimes rising sharply from 1969 to 1976. This
AIDS resulted in the public calling for strong sanctions. Legislation in the 1970s in-
cluded ( I) the Dangerous Drugs Act, which increased penalties for persons
Secondary stati stical survey and epidemiological data indicate that the distri- involved in the cultivation, tratlicking. and possession of drugs; (2) the
bution of AIDS cases is not globally uniform: locations within or near the Firearms Act , which tightened the issuance of gun licenses; (3) the Gun Court
Caribbean Basin have been disproportionately affected by the epidemic, with Act, which provides for life imprisonment for any person illegally possessing
the highest standardized attack rates per lOO,OOO population occurring in the firearms; and (4) the Juveniles Act , which provides that juveniles over four-
Bahamas, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Substance abuse has significantly con- teen charged with gun offenses would be processed as adults. Other legisla-
tributed to the epidemiology of AIDS in these areas. Evolving public health tion during this period included the Suppression of Crime Act, which in-
policy in the Caribbean has te nded to integrate AIDS prevention programs creased police powers in preventing and detecting crime; the Exchange
with those aimed at preventing other, more common sexually transmitted dis- Control Act, which increased penalties for the illicit outflow of currency ; the
eases, but attention should be paid to specific substance abuse di sorders as Criminal Justice Reform Act , which increased sentencing options; and the Pa-
well (Lange, Contoreggi, and Ball 1991). role Act, which provides for the introduction of a parole system. In the law
Of all reported cases of AIDS in the United States, 38 percent of patients have enforcement area, the public , particularly the low-income element and those
been black or Latino.ln New York City, 45 percent of black or Latino males and involved in the Rastafarian subculture, views the police as discriminatory in
61 percent of black and Latino females identify intravenous drug use as their only their enforcement of the laws. This perception increases hostility between
risk-related behavior; 77 percent of pediatric AIDS cases are the result of parental certain segments of the society and the police, which in turn tends to fuel vi-
IV drug use through perinatal transmission . Drug use is endemic in the poor, in- olent crime. Corrections efforts are beginning to focus on community-based
ner-city environment, and drug treatment has not always been readily available. programs as alternatives to punishment, which is increasingly viewed as
Education in inner-city communities has not been culturally specific to the val- counterproductive, except where the incapacitation of dangerous and violent
ues, norms, or jargon of U.S. or Caribbean people of color (Honey 1988). offenders is concerned (Allen 1980).
In addition, few major changes have been made in the design of national Jamaicans have thus borne the major stigma as Caribbean criminals. In the
health and social services to accommodate and deal with the potential or ex- 1970s and 1980s, as the two political parties in Jamaica sought success in the
isting impact of AIDS . In parts of Africa, the Caribbean , and Latin America, various elections, politicians depended upon groups of neighborhood thugs,
transmission is largely heterosexual, with extensive perinatal transm ission. called posses , to keep the loyalty of their followers, to discourage the oppo-
To address the problem of AIDS , primary health care will need to focus on sition from mobilizing through acts of terrorism, and to disrupt the actual vot-
community-based interventions in both developed and developing countries. ing process by stuffing ballot boxes and intimidating voters. But as the politi-
These interventions will neeed to relate to the characteristics of the groups or cians, the government, and the country were impoverished further, many of
communities to which they are directed. The epidemic will significantly im- these posses became involved in both marijuana and cocaine trafficking and
pact families and friendship structures (Carballo and Carael 1988). migrated to the United States.
Although these "political posses" were soon eclipsed in drug distribution by
younger Jamaicans, who did not in fact belong to posses or any other type of
CRIME organization , the idea of an international Jamaican drug distribution conspir-
acy, executed through ruthless posses who displayed a disregard for life never
The immigrant communities in Brooklyn and elsewhere are ideal locales for before encountered in a criminal group, caught the imagination of several law
persons pursuing a variety of clandestine purposes to slip into and out of and enforcement agencies in the United States. Several, such as the Bureau of Al-
to operate with impunity. cohol, Tobacco and Firearms, were rescued from mortal financial straits by the
 180 Chapter 9 U.S. - Caribbean Drug Connections 181

federal funding they received to combat this new foreign scourge. Special One ~tra te gy for circumventing corruption is for DEA agents to develop special
units in local precincts throughout the nation were similarly re vive-d. relationships with a few local agents rather than depending o n the fore ign agency as
Following the lead of these agencies , the U.S. Justice Department esti- a whole to conduct investigations. One of the most succc~sfu l measures has been the
mated that creation of elite drug enforcement uni ts composed of local pol ice. DEA agents are
active in creating these units, often training them, handpicking the ir heads, and over-
org.'mized ~ang activity by criminals from the Caribbean Basin, particularly Ja- seeing their hi ring, as well as working closely with them in all aspects of their oper-
rmucan natronals , had become we ll-established in the United States since their emer- ations (Nadclman n 1989).
gence in the mid- 1980s. Their presence was now muionwide. with an estimated 30
gangs or "posses'' in at least 18 major US cities . with a concentration on the East The study, in which data were obtained from 1984 to 1986 from thirty DEA
Coast. They had a reputation for being more violent than other street gangs. having agents, concluded that corruption was not the only hindrance, but that it was
committed an estimated 800 drug-related murders between 1984 and 1987. Althouoh an important obstacle to DEA efforts to cripple major drug traffickers in Latin
their initial trafficking had been in marij uana. they had been the leaders in orch:~­ America. Traffickers had been able to elude arrest and conviction by brib ing
trating a quick take-over of a relatively new source of illicit drug revenue: the re tail and threatening local officials. DEA agents reported the means they had de-
crack cocaine business. They had succeeded in maintaining the entire cocaine smuo-
vised of working arou nd the corruption that infected regional criminal justice
gling. convers ion and subsequent crack manufacturing within their organizatio~.
there by raising profit ~ and lowering the risk of detec tio n (Lyman 1990). agencies; they had pleaded, cajoled, threatened, and tricked their local coun-
terparts into cooperating. Re lying both on diplomatic leverage exercised by
However. the development of blocks, described in chapter 3 , portrays the the U.S. ambassador and on the transnational police subculture, DEA agents
more like ly scenario. in which the "criminal groups" so feared by the author- had been able to immobilize many trafickers who thought that they had pur-
ities emerge through trial and error among husbands and wives. other kin, and chased their safety. But efforts to root out corruption in the local police agen-
other quite ordinary people who are unhappy to break the Jaw. cies have proven emphemeral (Nadelmann 1989). The author neglected , how-
ever, to list the ways in which the DEA agents themselves encouraged
corruption or were corrupt personally.
THE WAR ON DRUGS AND FOREIGN POLICY A U .S. Senate Committee on Foreign Re lations reviewed past federal
policies and practices in the handl ing of fore ign policy and the war on drugs
If the war on drugs in the United States has received mi xed evaluations, this and concluded that the U.S. government had failed to acknowledge or had
book gives ample evidence that in the Caribbean region it was an unmitigated underestimated the seriousness of the emerging threat to the national secu-
disaster. It has seriously affected U.S. foreign policy in the Caribbean and vice rity posed by the drug cartels. The dru g cartels were so large and so power-
versa, and it has encouraged widescale corruption in the regional police forces. ful that they had undermined some governme nts and had taken over others.
The activities of the assistant commissioner of police in Trinidad, Randolph They worked with revolutionaries and terrorists. Their objectives seriously
Burroughs, were outlined in chapter 5. Trained in the United States and sup- jeopardized U.S. foreign policy interests and objectives throughout Latin
ported by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Burroughs carried out America and the Caribbean. In some instances, U.S. foreign policy consid-
a relentless campaign against young Rastafari dwe lling ncar the island's rain erations had interfered wi th the United States' ability to fight the war on
forests whom he labe led " guerrillas." In reality, they were marijuana growers drugs. The report recommended that the threat posed by the drug cartels be
who had no interest whatsoever in overthrowing the government. Burroughs's given high priority in the bilateral agenda of the United States with anum-
Flymg Squad murdered thirty-three of them during the 1970s. It was later dis- ber of countries including the Bahamas, Hai ti , Colombia, Bolivia, and
covered that in fact Burroughs had been cleating the way for the introduction Paraguay (U.S . Senate 1988) .
of cocaine for the Colombian cartels , and he remained to oversee its importa- The Caribbean governments see their problems in controlling illicit drug-
tion and islandwidc distribution. Before he could be charged with these crimes, trafficking operations as difficult because the Caribbean serves as a link be-
Burroughs resigned his position and fled to the United States. tween the drug producers in South America and drug users in North America.
They have initiated law enforce ment measures to combat drug trafficking.
The encouragement of personnel like Burroughs was part of a design hy the Drug They have taken legal and administrative steps to eradicate illicit cultivation
Enforcement Administrat ion to be more effective in the region , which DEA officers of narcotic crops. They have sought to improve international and bilateral at-
revealed to an in vestigato r in a recent study: tempts to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse . Most Caribbean countries,
182 Chapter 9 U.S.-Carihhean Drug Co11nections 183

however, lack trained manpower as well as the technical and economic re- Caribbean nations should begin to implement prevention strategies to avoid
sources necesary to do battle with sophisticated international drug trafficking the problems the Bahamas is experiencing (Neville and Clark 1985).
groups. They therefore seek technical and financial assistance from the inter- Harm reduction messages will have a warm reception among professionals
national community. in the treatment establishment, as they are very aware that marijuana smok-
ing was arguably an indigenous harm reduction ist strategy, well adapted to
Caribbean societies and cultures.
LEGAL DRUGS

Illicit drugs do not constitute the whole of the drug problem in the THE FUTURE: HEROIN
Caribbean. There has been grow ing inte rnational concern over many aspects
of the use and flow of medicines in developing countries. Factors that have In view of the close connections between drug phenomena in the Caribbean
contributed to problems in this area include the marketing and promotional and those in the United States, it is foolhardy that there is no coordinated,
practices of the pharmaceutical companies , rising drug import costs, and the comprehensive drug-monitoring system for the hemishere. He mispheric in-
unsui tability or poor quality of available drugs. Many policies have emerged stitutions, such as the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) ,
to alleviate such problems, to increase control over multinational drug com- should seek to sponsor such a system, with aid from U.S. agencies, such as
panies . and to bring about changes in the technology transaction processes the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NTDA).
and in the pharmaceutical sector. Both the regional cooperation scheme of For example, heroin is waiting in the wings. The world production of pop-
the Caribbean countries (CARICOM), and the national-level policy of Cuba pies rose steeply in the 1990s. The size of crops in the traditional growing ar-
are efforts to deal with these problems. The CARJCOM strategy has signif- eas, such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, the Lebanese Bekaa Val-
icant limitations, primarily due to its voluntary nature and lack of enforce- ley, and Mexico, has more than doubled. Formerly limited to these
ment mechanisms for member countries. On the other hand , the C uban ap- geographic areas. large-scale culti vation now engages nations around the
proach has brought about positive effec ts and progressive changes, made globe , such as Kenya , Nigeria, Morocco, the new Commonwealth of Inde-
through political commitment to achieve social benefits and in conjunction pendent States (CIS), Poland. Hungary, Lithuania, the former Yugoslavian
with integrated broad reforms of the entire health system within a socialist Republic , the Ukrai ne , and the Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Taj ik-
framework . Policies need to be e nforced at the national level and major istan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan , and Turkmenistan).
structural changes are needed in order to adequately meet the health and The watershed, however, may well have been the di versification of the
medical needs of the people (Thrupp 1984). Andean cocaine industry toward the production and marketing of heroin. In
the early 1990s, cocaine cartels based in Cali, Colombia, perfected thei r
techniques of heroin extraction and raised its quality to par with the
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT Burmese product. The ir cocaine-trafficking networks remain in place to
market it. When wholesaling cocaine , they force buyers to accept some
Providing services is a matter of urgency. To date, treatment facilities and spe- heroin too. This heroin may then be transferred to established heroin di stri-
cialists have been cut off from the mainstream of practice being carried out in bution channels at higher trafficking levels. Ju st as likely, however, is that
the United States. Factors that have contributed to the increased availability of it may trickle down the cocaine distribution chain, reachi ng consumers of
cocaine include: ( I) proximity to the United States; (2) the use of the islands all forms of cocaine. For example, Domi nicans are selling both drugs from
as a transshipment depot; (3) increased traffic of cocaine through the islands; their bodegas.
and (4) the involvement of Bahamians in the transshipment process. Admis- Increased worldwide heroin production is being matched by a worldwide
siom; data from the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, the island's only psy- resurgence in use. Intranasal heroin use, "chasing the dragon" (smoking), and
chiatric hospital , show an increase of patients admitted for help with cocaine injecting have been observed for the first time in Asian and Eastern European
dependence from 69 in J 983 to 220 in 1984. These figures suggest that cocaine capitals, where use among locals had followed the proliferation of trafficking
dependence has become a significant problem in the Bahamas. Other routes. They grew in many Western European capitals in the 1980s. Popular
184 Chapter 9 US - Caribbean D rug Connections 185

culture is simultaneously glamorizing heroin. Despite the 1993 heroin over- National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA) , and Monitoring the
dose deaths of singer Kurt Cobain and actor River Phoenix, a fascination with Future (MTF) are valuably affirming the greater availability and consumption
the drug preoccupies many contemporary Hollywood films, TV movies, doc- of heroin, they have not grasped the characteristics of new users, plumbed the
umentaries, and tabloid newspapers. sources of new demand, or tapped into the emergent ritual s and norms which
In cities across the United States, potential users can readily buy "Mex- are energizing new use patterns .
ican brown tar." "China white," and "Colombian." At a recent meeting in The principal drawback, however, and the one which an anthropological
New Orleans of the Community Epidemiology Work Group sponsored by ethnography rigorously and systematicall y corrects, is that surveys cannot ap-
NIDA, representatives from nineteen U.S. cities, Toronto, Mexico, and prehend the contexts of social life in which drug use and distri bution take
Paris reported increased purity, availability, and use of heroin. Heroin was place, its complexity and situational aspects, and its economic, cultural , and
their number-one drug of concern. The representative from Jamaica, a political dimensions. An ethnographic methodology restores this holistic per-
medical doctor, privately reported two hospitalizations in that Caribbean spective . Ethnographic procedures are also best suited to access and desc ribe
nation. Thus, an apparent global ascendancy of heroin use, often in places populations and social environments which are withdrawn from normal ob-
where it had been formerly absent, contextualizes the increase in use in servation and in the investigation of emergent phenomena (Taylor and Bog-
New York City. dan 1984). Research will alert policymakers about the vectors by which
The mention by the Jamaican physician of two cases of heroin injecting is heroin use is being diffused to new segments of the population and will ad-
ominous. The Caribbean region has hitherto been innocent of heroin and of vise them of the diverse consequences for communities, households , and in-
drug injecting. The Colombians, however, have used the islands as a trans- dividuals.
shipment route, and the recent example of Eastern Europe teaches that heroin
use typically springs up along such routes. The United States and the islands
stand in a mutually threatening relationship, in which harmful drug patterns
may again travel to and fro , aggravating a bad situation.

RESEARCH

The Caribbean region can contribute greatly toward understanding the rela-
tion between psychoactive men and psychoactive plants. The islands offer a
laboratory for the explorations of the impact of different cultures and differ-
ential policy on the use of different substances. Research in the region would
truly establish drug studies as a multicultural, multinational enterprise.
Caribbean islands are small but contain different ethnicities and cultures.
Moreover, their drug policies are determined by independent island govern-
ments, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Holland.
If heroin consumption climbs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ethno-
graphic methodologies, tested in the cocaine-smoking epidemic of the 1980s,
will be able to assess the development rapidly and accurately. They are an in-
dispensable complement to the usual epidemiological approaches which, by
themselves, have often mistaken the extent of use, how users are initiated,
how they switch between drugs or use patterns, how much they use, how they
quit, who drug distributors are, and how they operate. Thus, although the
Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) ,
 Glossary

artificial Recent Rastafari adjective to describe the

money culture of Babylon. Refers to money
and attitudes and behavior associated with
money making, tastes, styles of dress, etc.
Babylon The ancient biblical city which symbolized
the heathen or the ungodly. Rastafari word for
the "money" culture and features thought to
be intrinsic to it, such as exploitation , oppres-
sion , imperiali sm, raci sm, unemployment,
blasphemy, and ungodliness. It also means the
police.
bad john A character notorious among unemployed
youth before the 1960s for his physical courage
and his criminal record .
black In recent Rastafari usage, "true," as in "the
blackness of the matter," or "the truth, or crux,
of the matter." Hence " blackheart," or a truth-
ful, honest, and aware person .
block A neighborhood, or the gathering place for
(mostly) males in the neighborhood; a place
where marijuana is sold; an organization or en-
terprise selling marijuana and operated by a
particular person or block leader (hence, "so
and so's block") and his associates . In New
York, blocks were renamed "gates."

187
188 Glossary Glossary 189

blockorama A street fair organized by budding entrepre- about ten days a month , and jobs are often
ne urs, popular in Trinidadian cities and towns pointless tasks of road repair and the like.
from 1968 to 1973. dealer A person who sells marijuana .
the Bowl The Naparima Bowl, a concert hall in San Fer-
Democratic Labor The political party of Indian professionals,
nando which is also hired out for parties, dances,
Party (DLP) landowners, businessmen , priests, and village
weddings, and other private celebrations.
bosses; it once enjoyed widespread rural Indian
Boys ' Industrial Home A borstal , or correctional, center for adolescent support and formed the opposition in several
offenders. governments since 1956.
chalice A water pipe fo r smoking marijuana, made of dougla A person of mixed African and Indian parentage.
indigenous materials. The hard shell of a ma-
ture coconut is cut at the top, and a bowl dug dread A Rastafari brother. As an adjective, it means
out of hard wood (mora wood , fo r example) is "terrible" or "horrendous," or terrible and hor-
inserted; a rubber washer is sometimes used to rendous on account of just convictions . Hence.
make a snug and watertight fit. On the side of "going dread," to describe the process of self-
the coconut, a smaller opening is made into questioning , reality testing, and self-affirmation
which a hollow bamboo tube or a length of rub- through which one becomes Rastafari.
ber hosing is inserted: this serves as the stem or dreadlocks Hair grown long and allowed to " knat up," or
mouthpiece. Before use, the chalice is filled gather in thick, matted locks.
with water. Smoking marijuana through a chal-
dunza Recent Rastafari word meani ng money: " done
ice is thought to clear the head of phlegm.
so" or "easy come, easy go."
channa The Hindi and Trinidadian word for chickpeas,
which are served curried or fried. Ethiopia The country in the Hom of Africa; Africa; the
world before Babylonian corruption; the land to
chilum A smoking instrument originally imported from
emerge for all mankind after the destruction of
India. Now made in Trinidad, it is a conical clay
Babylon; Zion.
pipe which is cupped in both hands during use.
cigarette papers Wrappers or leaves in which cigarettes are fete The usual Trinidadian word for a dance or
wrapped. These are imported from abroad and party. A French word (fete), it recalls Trinidad's
are being replaced by natural tobacco leaves or brief period as a French colony and subse-
dried plantai n leaves. Scooped-out carrots and que ntly, the fl ight to Trinidad of French
com husks are other substitutes. They remain, planters, during periods of unrest in France or
however, the most convenient means for mak- during slave revolts, from neighboring French
ing a joint. colonies like Martinique and Guadeloupe.
coop A roadside stall , constructed of scrap wood , five-bag About four grams of marij uana packed in a small
wire, and corrugated iron, from which cooked brown envelope and sold for $5. A tive-bag
foods, fruits , and sundries are sold. Most blocks yielded as many as seven or eight thi nly wrapped
have one. joints or a couple of spliffs (see below).
Crash Programme A government employee program designed to funk A bittersweet , deeply felt emotional state. The
alleviate unemployment among the chronically word refers most often to a c igarette e mptied of
unemployed . A term of employment is usually tobacco at the top into which the butt end of a
190 Glossary Glossarv 191

joint is fitted. rn this way, all of the joint can be Jah Rastafari Jahwey or Jehovah. See Haile Selassi-1.
smoked. Cannabinoid oils run dow n into the re-
joint A cigarette made of marijuana.
mai ning tobacco in the cigarette, making it po-
tent also. joy juice A beverage prepared from the seeds of the
datura flower pod, which is said to have powe r-
funk music Popular African American music (The Tempta- ful hallucinogenic effects . Although the datura
tions, Lione l Richie, and Marvin Gaye were grows in Trinidad in the wild, in damp and dark
some of the artists) which was favored by mar- places, it is not widely used as a narcotic by
ijuana smokers until 1973 , when reggae re- Trinidadians. Some experimentation was noted
placed it. in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when mari-
ganja Hindi and Sanskrit word for marijuana, which juana was being introduced.
has been adopted throughout the Caribbean. It A Hind i and Sanskrit word for the mature buds
kalli
was introduced , with marijuana itself, by Indians of the marijuana plant; any good or potent mar-
during the East Indian indenture (1937-1 9 11 ). ijuana.
gate See block.
kaya The name of a record album by Bob Marley, the
guerrilla Word adopted by Trinidadian newspapers and most famous Rastafari reggae singer. The lead
police to refer mainly to marijuana cultivators song on the album is also called " Kaya," and
who lived in the rain forests. Very few seemed the word means marijuana.
to be active and armed political operatives.
knat-up See dreadlocks.
Haile Selassi-1 The Ethiopian emperor who ruled Ethiopia from
lime Recreational gathering of neighborhood
1935 to 1976. He is regarded as the true descen-
friends, who also engaged in economic, politi-
dant of Solomon and Sheba of the House of
cal, and cultura l exchanges while together.
David, and hence as the living God, Jah Rastafari.
Hence, "to lime" and " liming."
hashish A cake prepared from the flowering tips of the
Mandrax British trade name for Quaaludes.
marijuana plant which can be added to joints or
smoked in a pipe. parlor The front room of a house which faces the
head Being high on marijuana; thus, "to have a head" street and which is often converted to a small
or "a good head." neighborhood shop from which homemade
sweets, snacks, cold drinks, cigare ttes, newspa-
herbs Rastafari word for marijuana.
pers, and sundries are sold.
higgling "Hustling": hence, "higgler," an entrepre ne urial
People's National Name of the political party which won
intermediary who buys agric ult ural produce
Movement (PNM) Trinidad 's fi rst general elections in 1956, thus
from growers . or manufactured goods (ciga-
fo rming the first indigenous government. Until
rettes, candles , newspapers, lottery tickets, etc.)
the early 1990s, it won every subsequent gen-
from a wholesaler, for resale at retail.
eral e lections.
1 A Rastafari word meaning the true "natural,"
pot A word for marijuana in America and Europe.
"inner" self, like the Atman in Hindu thought.
The adjective, ·' t-ry," describes things nourish- puja Hindi and Sanskrit word for a prayer service in
ing or pleasing to the "I." "1-tal," a noun , refers honor of a god or goddess , or to give thanks for
to 1-ry food . "1-ditation" means contemplation, a boon.
or thought profitable to " 1." pusher A person who sells marijuana.
192 Glossary

reggae A form of Jamaican folk music which was de-

veloped in the mid-1960s from ska and "rock-
steady" antecedents. Rastafari musicians spear-
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 Index

Anslinger, Harry, x-x i Constantine, Thomas (DEA

Arlacchi, Pino, xiii. See also United Administrator) , xiii
Nations Drug Control Program
Armstrong, Louis, xxxiv De Quincy, xxxiv
diffusion: cultural patterns, xvi
"bad john", 21
Baudelaire, xxxiv East Indian indenture, x, xvi, xxxvi; East
Becker, Howard , 157-58 Indian ganja use in Trinidad , xl-xliii;
Black Muslims, 21 East Indian ganja use in Trinidad -
Black Power: Black Power revolt, 22- 24, licensing, xl~xli ; East Indian
94, 95; National Joint Action abandonment of ganja in Trinidad, xli
Committee, 22, 94; National Union of Emancipation: African labor, x, xxxvi, 5
Freedom Fighters, 22
Burroughs, Randolph, Police Inspector, Fanon, Frantz, 2 1
96 , 98, 11 3- 14
ganja in Jamaica, xi, xxxv iii~xxxl, 150.
Calloway, Cab, xxxiv See also Comitas, Lambros.
cannabis indica, x, xxx, xxxv ganja complex: Indian origins , xiv, xv,
cannabis sativa, x. xxx, xxxiv xxix-x lii i; in Brooklyn, 119- 25 ; in
Capildeo , Rudrunath, 12 Jamaica, xxiv-xl; in Trinidad, xl-xliii
Caribbean immigrant communities, xv,
26-28, 11 6-21 informal economy, xvii-xxi, 161- 75
Carmichael, 21 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, xi, xii
Carnival, 166-69; steel bands, 20 XXXV
Cesaire, 21 International Narcotics Control Board , xiii
Chopra, G., and J. Chopra, xvi
Cleaver, 21 James, C. L. R., 6-7
cocaine, xxi, 114, 127-46
Coleridge, S., xxxiv kaya,25,43n l
Comitas, Lambros, xi Kolansky, L., and W. Moore , xvi

207
 Index 209
208 Index

traffic, 80- 87; beliefs and practices, Ethiopian, xxxiii; European, xxxiii; Williams, Eric Eustace, 7, 10, I I, 13, 23,
Lamarck, x
87- 89; as a developmental ideology, American, xxxiii-xiv 24n I
Lewis, W. Arthur, 10
limes, 14-24; liming, 3, 18 90-9 1
Vietnam War: use-complex, xxxiv; protest Zinberg, Norman, 150
Linnaeus, x Raw Deal: fieldwork on marijuana,
in Trinidad, 22
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh, xxxiv. 29- 32
Lundgren, Dan (California Attorney Reefer Madness, xi, 94 , 161
General), xii reinvestments of marijuana revenues: in
Brooklyn, 125- 26; in Trinidad,
madi-juana usc-complex, 150. 152- 56, 84-87
157- 59 Restoration of Religious Freedoms Act,
Malcolm X, 2 1 xxviin2
marijuana: anthropological studies, xi ; Rimbaud, A., xxxiv
blocks or gate s, 45, 4 7, 51 , 53- 74; Robinson, Victor, xxx iv.
botany; ix; cannabis psychosis, 43n3 , Rubin, Vera, xi. See also ganja in Jamaica
150: cultivation in Trinidad , 38-43;
Drug Medicalization, Prevention, and scrunter, 12
Control Act (Arizona and California). Shultes, Richard E., x
xii; early organization of traffic in tetrahydrocannabinols, x, xxviin I
Trinidad, 33-34; government San Fernando: physical description, 1- 2
commissions of enquiry, xi; growth of Shiva: worship. xxxv, xliiinl ; yoga,
demand in Trinidad, 34- 38; law XXXV
enforcement in Trinidad, 93- 113; law
reform (Nevada, Oregon , Washington , Trinidad and Tobago: agriculture, 9;
Washington D.C., Hawai i), xiii; African-Indian intermarriage; 11 , 43n2;
media coverage in Trinidad , Americanization , 6; colonial rule/social
96- 109; Oak land Cannabis Buyers' relations, 5-6; commerce, 10, 25;
Club, xii; pushers in Trinidad, 45-53; independence, 6; introduction of
prohibition , x, xxix ; incubation period marijuana, x; industry and
(Trinidad), 28-33; in New York , manufactu ring , 8; marijuana usc-
12 1- 27; particularity for Africans complexes, xv, 149-61 ; migration
(Trinidad) , 32; unguilded growers in from , 6, 16-17,26 , 115-16;
Trinidad, 166; unsyndicated growers modernization and development. 6; oil
in Trinidad , 165-66 industry. 8 , 9; plantation slavery, xvi;
McCaffrey, Barry (drug czar), xiii physical description (geography) , I ;
Morton, Reverend John. xl unemployment, 2-5

Nahas, Gabriel, xvi United Nations Drug Control Program , xiii

U. S.-Caribbean connections, xxi, 175- 87;
occupational multiplicity, xxxviii. See also AIDS, 178; crime, 179-80; foreign
Comitas, Lambros. policy, 180- 82; heroin, 183- 84; legal
drugs, 182; money laundering, 176-78;
People 's National Movement, 6- 13, 16
prevention and treatment, 182;
psychopharmacological paradigm, xlvi
research, 184; tourism 176
Rastafari, 36-38,41-43, 75- 9 1; origins, use-complexes, xxix-xliii; Neolithic, xxx;
76; in Brooklyn, 126-3 1; history in Chinese, xxx; Southeastern Asia, and
Caribbean, 77-79; in Trinidad, 79-80; Near East, xxxi; Jewish and Muslim,
in block development and marijuana xxxi; Sub-Saharan Africa, xxxii;
 About the Author

Ansley Hamid is associate professor of anthropology at John Jay College of

Criminal Justice in New York. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he studied at the
London School of Economics and at Teachers College , Columbia University,
where he earned his doctorate in anthropology and education in 1980. He has
taught previously in Trinidad, Britain, and Nigeria. Since 1976, he has con-
ducted research funded by the Ford Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggen-
heim Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, and the National In-
stitute on Drug Abuse on the use and distribution of marijuana, cocaine, and
heroin in the Caribbean and the United States. He has written extensively on
these topics and is the author of Drugs in America: Sociology, Economics and
Politics (Aspen 1998).

211