Jamaica decriminalised cannabis through the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act (DDAA) in 2015. The Act legalised and regulated commercial cultivation and sale of cannabis for medicinal use.

It decriminalised personal possession of cannabis, permitted home cultivation for medicinal use, and allowed Rastafarians to use and grow cannabis for sacramental use in locations registered as placed for Rastafari worship.

Before decriminalisation, there were 15,000 annual arrests for cannabis possession. A quarter of all court cases dealt with cannabis-related offences, costing an estimated at USD 64 million in arrest and prosecution costs annually.

Court cases involving possession or smoking of cannabis have been reduced by over 90% since the decriminalisation of drug use and possession in April 2015.

There was a 25% decrease in criminal cases referred to courts in 2016, compared to 2014.

In 2016, Jamaica significantly increased its budget for the HIV national response, with funding nearly doubling from USD 2.83 million to USD 5.17 million.