MACKA B… Rastafari have been telling the masses about the medicinal properties of the herb for a long time—BRITISH deejay Macka B weighs in on the growing debate to legalise ganja with his new song, Medical Marijuana.

The Rastafarian toaster extols the holistic benefits of the weed in the single which he co-produced with Chris Peckins. He said it is also a personal statement.

“For 30 years I have been advocating for the legalisation and decriminalisation of ganja in my music. As Rastafari, it is I and I sacrament, the holy herb,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“Rastafari people have been telling the masses about the medicinal properties of the herb for a long time. Now, the world is waking up, we have to be at the forefront of what is going on.”

The legalise ganja debate picked up steam after use of the plant was legalised in the state of Colorado in the United States and parts of Canada.

In Jamaica, the government has announced plans to gradually relax restrictions on ganja which has been vilified by conservatives for decades.

The government stance has received broad support from legislators and advocates.

Macka B has been following the Jamaican debate.

“It seems as if the politicians are slowly ‘wising’ up to the fact that marijuana in its many forms is a therapeutic medicine and that Jamaica can benefit in many ways from it,” he said.

Like most European countries, citizens are allowed to use ganja for recreational and medicinal purposes.

Macka B was born in the British Midlands city of Wolverhampton to Jamaican parents. His career started in the early 1980s on the London sound system circuit.

He is best known in Jamaica for the songs, Dread a Who She Love (with singer Kofi) and Proud of Mandela.