Jamaica: Western Parishes Hold 31% of Seizures, Youth Referrals Climb

As of 26 June 2026, two government bodies in western Jamaica released cannabis data within a day of each other. The Jamaica Constabulary Force put the western region’s share of 2026 ganja seizures at 31 per cent. The National Council on Drug Abuse said cannabis was linked to more than half of the minors it counselled this year so far in Westmoreland.

The seizure figures came from Deputy Superintendent Courtney Wilson, Deputy Director of the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division for the Western Region. Speaking to the Jamaica Observer, Wilson said the JCF has seized 42,000 pounds of ganja island-wide since the start of 2026, of which 13,000 pounds came from the parishes of Montego Bay, Hanover, Westmoreland, Trelawny, and St James. The same region accounts for 65 arrests and 62 trafficking-related charges over the same period.

The NCDA numbers, reported the next day by the Jamaica Gleaner, focus on a single parish. Orain Ruddock, NCDA Westmoreland coordinator for Prevention, Public Education and Treatment, told the paper that 26 of 48 minors referred to the agency between January and May were linked to cannabis. The next most common substance was alcohol, with nine referrals. The 48 total is already higher than the 40 the parish saw in all of 2025.

Ruddock attributed the rise to a school-level shift, not a sudden change in use. “The current increase in the referrals for minors is due to the constant gentle persuasion from the NCDA to schools,” he said. “Refer them for counselling or intervention support rather than expelling them.” He added that cannabis is “deemed as a medicine. It is entrenched in our culture, it is easily accessible, and it is viewed as less dangerous than other hard drugs.”

What This Means for Travelers

Western Jamaica is where most visitors land. Sangster International in Montego Bay is the country’s main tourist airport, and the parishes the JCF named cover Negril, the West End, and the cruise berths at the Montego Bay Freeport. The 31 per cent figure is a snapshot of enforcement in the resort belt and does not mark a change in policy. The 2-ounce decriminalisation threshold from the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, 2015 is intact, and licensed herb houses continue to operate.

What the figures show is that the JCF’s case mix in the west is still trafficking-weighted, and that the gap between the licensed market and the informal one remains the busy lane for enforcement. The same parishes are also where the Cannabis Licensing Authority’s zero-fee community permits and the Orange Hill registration drive are trying to pull traditional growers onto the legal side of the line.

What to Watch

The CLA has not published a registration count for the community permit yet. Whether the rate of conversion from informal to licensed grower in Westmoreland can outpace the rate of seizure in the wider western region is the figure to look for next. The NCDA’s full-year totals for 2026, due at year end, will show whether the school-referral curve flattens or keeps climbing.