NARCOTICS BILL GRANTING LICENSES FOR CANNABIS CULTIVATION IN GHANA PASSED

The new one, which substitutes section 43, now empowers the Minister of the Interior to grant licence for the cultivation of cannabis commonly known in Ghana as “wee”.

But this has to be not more than 0.3 per cent of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes for obtaining fibre or seed or for medicinal purposes.

It further prohibits a person who has been granted a licence under the bill from cultivating cannabis for recreational use.

The empowerment of the Minister of the Interior came after the bill was reintroduced in Parliament as the Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023 to amend the Narcotics Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).

The new section 43 provided an opportunity for Parliament to debate the policy rationale of the provision in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution and the ruling of the Supreme Court on the issue.