Jamaican man pleads not guilty to smoking marijuana, says he ate it

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William Breathes.

Being a smart-ass to a judge during your marijuana smoking trial might not be the best idea, but what if you’re smart-ass remark is really the truth?
Sarjie Morgan of Kingston, Jamaica was charged with smoking marijuana last week. When brought before the judge, Morgan pleaded innocent. He couldn’t be guilty of smoking ganja, he said. He had eaten it.


The courtroom “erupted with laughter” when Morgan admitted to gobbling up the ganja. The flustered prosecutor asked him to clarify.
“I saw ‘dem coming and by the time ‘dem reach me I eat it,” he said to the court according to the Jamaica Observer.
The judge, who clearly has a sense of humor even if it’s a dark one, called his bluff. She said that based on his response, she was going to have to take the case to trial – which could have meant more jailtime for Morgan.
In light of that, Morgan changed his plea was given the choice of a $2,000 (Jamaican) fine or face 30 days in jail. In U.S. dollars, that’s about $20.
With the tide possibly turning in Jamaica towards cannabis law reform, many are speaking out against such trivial wastes of limited resources. As one commenter online said of Morgan’s case:
“Why arrest a man for a spliff when there are serious criminals a among us such as thieves and murders? Cops, sometimes you have to turn a blind eye to such petty issues. Don’t catch bongah. Catch big fish.”
Another Facebook commenter on the Observer site put it more succinctly:
“Go in the downtown area and clean up the guns and the violence and leave the rasta with him weed.”

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