Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(W.I., Jam.) home-grown tobacco, twisted into a rope.

1959		A. Salkey Quality of Violence (1978) 18: He struck a match, cupped the bowl of his pipe and sucked greedily until the ‘jackass rope’ burst into flames.
1966		(con. 1962) L. Bennett ‘Independance’ in Jamaica Labrish 170: Jamaica start smoke pipe, ah hope / We got nuff Jackass Rope!
1968		A. Salkey Late Emancipation of Jerry Stover (1982) 177: He could smell [...] the acrid fumes from the kerosene lamps, the nicotine stench from the jackass rope.
1980		(con. 1950s) M. Thelwell Harder They Come 39: ‘Jackass rope’, a pungent tobacco, cured and woven into a rope and sold by the yard.