I think there is a major component missing to this discussion. The people who grow these strains and live in Jaimaca are poor and struggling to stay alive and feed their familys. I know that Jamaica is a beautiful place and a lot of people think its a paradise but I have met people from there and have read about or seen docs and it can be a pretty ruff place to live. I doubt that these growers have the time to research genetics, maintain isolation between feilds and focus on growing quality over quantity. MJ is their cash crop and they are trying to make as much money on tourists as possible. Maybe if americans and westerners didn't consume so much these "third world" countries could actually make a decent living? To these growers MJ isnt just some fun thing to endevor on like a hobby, its their livelyhood. I dont mean to be preachy here and maybe I'm wrong or over generalizing, but I think that one should atleast consider the situation of the people we consume from, MJ or otherwise. This situation plays out all over the world wherever MJ is a major means of living for people and the government is cracking down on traditional MJ farming ... There are landraces all over the world beeing ruined.
(steps off soapbox)
I've been to Jamaica, I have a friend from Kingston, and I won't sugarcoat it.
As a tropical Caribbean island, Jamaica is beautiful, but as a country its depressingly poor, and overrun with violent crime and corruption.
In my opinion its wrong to attribute the many problems of Jamaica to the "West" in general, or to the USA in particular. We didn't colonize it and we never ran it. In fact, there are so many expatriate Jamaicans living in the USA sending money back home, that its probably fairer to say that a good bit of Jamaica's economy depends on US support, albeit indirectly. Certainly tourism is one of Jamaica's biggest industries, with the USA being the biggest client, and thing would probably only be that much worse without it.
If you want to blame the British for "ruining" Jamaica, at least you'd have some historical leg to stand on. The Brits certainly weren't perfect, but on balance I think a good case can be made that like many other former colonies Jamaica actually ran better with the Brits in charge. Unfortunately "independence" doesn't suit everyone, and the place has mostly gone to hell after the Brits left in the 60s. Not unsurprisingly, lots of Jamaicans actually feel the same way:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009487/We-stayed-Britain-Shock-poll-reveals-60-Jamaicans-think-theyd-better-colony.html
Now, I'm off the political soapbox.
On cannabis, the island has a long history of growing it and local use, completely distinct from commercial sale to/for Americans. They'd still be growing it and smoking it, even if there were no American or other tourists there buying it.
In terms of ruining their landraces, non-Jamaicans didn't come to the island to plant foreign genetics. So to the extent that their genetics have been "ruined" the Jamaican growers have done it to themselves looking for higher yields and faster crops. Its the classic "golden goose" situation.
The island itself is large and dense enough that there well may be some places with the "old school" genetics intact. I've seen at least one report that the "good stuff" is still grown there, just not easy to find. Personally, I'd be afraid to even look. And again, take the Jamaican stuff off the island and try to grow it in your closet, and I think you're likely to be disappointed.
