It's not often that a minister of government speaks candidly about a situation in which the law is being broken, while acknowledging that the illegal activities provide economic sustenance for a large number of persons.

Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton did just that on Thursday, speaking to farmers at the Bigwoods Primary School in St Elizabeth after 120 hectares of land were burnt and a number of animals killed earlier this week, in what residents say was an attempt at ganja eradication that got out of hand.

What Dr Tufton said was nothing earth shatteringly new. As is often the case, though, it is the authority of the source that makes the difference. And as agriculture minister, as well as member of parliament for South West St Elizabeth, he is authoritative when he said, as was reported in The Gleaner yesterday, that:

"It is the mainstay of the livelihood of many communities and, without marijuana, they wouldn't be able to survive."

He went on to suggest that an alternative to planting marijuana be provided, along with the eradication programme. Again that is not a stupendous leap in the thought process, but the obvious has eluded those who would take a slash-and-burn approach to the campaign against ganja growing.

The concentration of the population and economic activity in the few urbanised sections of Jamaica, especially the Corporate Area with Portmore being a dormitory community where many residents rest their heads in between trips to work in Kingston, has resulted in a distinct lack of moneymaking opportunities in the rural areas. Marijuana, for which there is a strong local demand (if the commonplace possession cases which come before the courts are anything to go by), as well as from overseas (as the seizures at departure points and the US's continued interest in eradication indicates), would appear to be the crop that fills this gap, if Tufton's statement is to be taken along its logical path.

So, providing an alternative is imperative not only because of economic sustenance, but also the fact that growing marijuana makes criminals out of persons who are liable to be locked up and tossed into a cell with persons who have performed deliberately heinous acts.

What that alternative would be, though, is another matter. For there is no crop in Jamaica which will provide the returns for a farmer that marijuana does.

It is notable that Tufton did not suggest decriminalisation of marijuana. We hardly expect a sole minister of government to do so without a collective stance by the party in power and, with the United States and others in the country dead set against production of the plant here, we also do not expect such a stance to be made by any Jamaican government.

We do know, though, that this conflagration of crops and emotions in St Elizabeth is but one in an intermittent stream of such conflicts between the authorities and citizens over marijuana at various stages in its trip from the soil to ingestion. And we do know that if the police are to have the harmonious relationship they appear to desire with the general populace, this issue of consistent conflict will have to be addressed.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.