Jamaica is to decriminalise small amounts of pot and establish a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry on the Caribbean island.

After several hours of debate, MPs in the lower house gave final passage to drug law amendments that make possession of up to 2oz of marijuana a petty offence that would not result in a criminal record.

Cultivation of five or fewer plants on any premises would be permitted in Jamaica, where the drug has long been culturally entrenched, but illegal.

The law paves the way for a cannabis licensing authority to be set up to deal with regulations on cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes.

Rastafarians can also legally use marijuana now for religious purposes for the first time on the tropical island, where the spiritual movement was founded in the 1930s.

And tourists who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad will soon be able to apply for permits at a cost authorising them to legally buy small amounts of Jamaican weed, or "ganja" as it is known locally.

Peter Bunting, the island's national security minister, said authorisation of the law does not mean Jamaican government plans to soften its stance on transnational drug trafficking or cultivation of illegal plots.

He added: ;"The passage of this legislation does not create a free-for-all in the growing, transporting, dealing or exporting of ganja. The security forces will continue to rigorously enforce Jamaican law consistent with our international treaty obligations."