Wayne Armond salutes the weed on new single

As a budding musician in Jamaica during the late 1960s, Wayne Armond heard about aristes like Bunny Livingston (later Bunny Wailer) and Toots Hibbert being jailed for possession of the 'evil ganja'.

Over 50 years later, things have changed considerably. Decriminalisation of the weed in Jamaica was one of the inspirations for 'Kush', the guitarist-singer's latest song. It is produced by My MM Productions, which is based in South Florida. The track is also a nod to artistes who aggressively lobbied for the legalisation of ganja during the contentious 1970s.

"After advocating for years, artistes like Peter Tosh, Bob [Marley] and Toots [Hibbert] have all passed before seeing their dream at least come to pass in certain states in the USA and decriminalised in Jamaica," said Armond, a co-founder of reggae band Chalice. Since the decriminalisation process started in the Senate in late 2015, there has been a booming ganja industry in Jamaica, with a number of leading businessmen opening cannabis-driven ventures.

The South Florida-based Armond keeps up to date with ganja developments in Jamaica. Since moving to the United States, he has released several songs as a solo act for My MM Productions, which is operated by fellow Jamaican Orville Marshall.

Armond is still a member of Chalice. He and the band performed at Fireworks On The Waterfront in downtown Kingston on New Year's Eve.