London:

A newspaper story which branded Jamaica as a "druggies paradise" has caused outrage among the United Kingdom's Jamaican community.

The Sun newspaper article, published February 3, claims that five-time British Grammy winner Amy Winehouse was flying to Jamaica to record her new album. The singer/songwriter, the story continues, has a well-publicised drug problem and would be going to an "isle of druggies" and that the strongly-Christian Jamaica was "awash with drugs like crack cocaine and cannabis".

Dawn Butler, Labour member of parliament for Brent South, is very annoyed at the misrepresentation. Butler is the first black female minister in the House of Commons and is born to Jamaican parents in Britain.

Statistics

"If you look at the statistics from the UN World Drug report, Jamaica has a lower level of drug abuse than the UK," a livid Butler said. "On top of this, cannabis use, as a percentage of the population, is higher in Spain and Italy than in Jamaica, but we do not refer to these tourist spots as drug destinations. It is unfair and offensive to refer to Jamaica as the 'isle of druggies'," she said.

Jamaica's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Burchell Whiteman, said the article was an "insult" and "seriously defamed all responsible Jamaicans and persons of Jamaican heritage living and working in the UK".

In a letter to The Sun's editor, Whiteman said, "contrary to your report and as observed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, there are severe penalties for all drug offences, including those involving ganja (marijuana)."

Elizabeth Fox of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) in Britain said such a situation was unfortunate. "It is a shame that The Sun sticks to such clichéd stereotypes when Jamaica has so much more to offer," she said.