The Associated PressRas Jah, a member of the Ras Freeman Foundation for the Unification of Rastafari, prepares to pass a chalice pipe with marijuana to the left during service in the tabernacle on Sunday, May 14, 2023, on the Ras Freeman Foundation for the Unification of Rastafari property in Liberta, Antigua. The Rastafari faith is rooted in 1930s Jamaica, growing as a response by Black people to white colonial oppression.
Members of the Rastafari religion and political movement have for decades been persecuted and imprisoned for their ritualistic use of marijuana. But the tiny islands of Antigua and Barbuda recently became one of the first Caribbean nations to grant Rastafari official sacramental authorization to grow and smoke the herb that they deem sacred.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press in an interview that his government took this step to try to end the persecution and bring respect to the Rastafari faith.