It is now legal to carry a small amount of pot around in Jamaica.

The island country situated in the Caribbean Sea has just decriminalized the possession of up to 2 oz of marijuana for personal use.

BBC reports the law passed by Jamaica’s parliament was much debated and allows for a licensing authority to oversee the medical and scientific uses of the plant.

The drive to decriminalize the drug was met with the fear of a possible U.S. sanction. Marijuana, which is widely grown in Jamaica, has strong cultural and social roots on the island nation. Jamaica is believed to be the largest Caribbean exporter of marijuana to the U.S.

The measures meant to decriminalize marijuana were approved by the Jamaican cabinet last month and by its Senate in early February. The parliament vote on Tuesday night means the measures are now free to be passed into law.

The new law will make provisions for Jamaica's Rastafarian community to use marijuana for their religious purposes, as the plant is considered sacred to the faith by its members and has been celebrated in the island's reggae music.

Peter Bunting, Jamaica's national security minister, has stated that the law does not represent any easing up of Jamaica's stance on the international drugs trade or on the illegal cultivation of the plant.

Jamaica’s latest stance on pot is part of a worldwide trend. Across the globe laws have indeed been easing up on the domestic restrictions against marijuana. Several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, have recently decriminalized marijuana possession. Last year Uruguay became the first country in the world to approve the growth, sale and distribution of marijuana. And Guatemala’s President Otto Perez Molina has recently proposed moves to push for the legalization of marijuana and perhaps other drugs a well.

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