Parliament approves industrial use of cannabis

Parliament has legalised the cultivation and management of cannabis for industrial and commercial purposes.

This follows the approval of the Narcotics Control Commission Regulations 2023 which legalises cannabis with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 0.3.

Contributing to the passage of the L.I, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, made it clear that this should not be interpreted as the legalisation of recreational weed.

He clarified that cannabis with THC of 0.3 are not yet cultivated in the country and that the ministry is now preparing to bring such types into the country.

But Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza says this law will certainly be abused and that the cultivation of cannabis will not change the fortunes of the country.

He warned that the passing of the law and its subsequent abuse could exacerbate an already dire mental health situation in the country.

“And none of you is talking about the potential of abuse and how that can degenerate into mental health problems we already have in this country. Why are we pretending that this is going to solve our problem? Minister? Do you even know how many people in this country are smoking weed?” he quizzed.

“Even electricity that the sources we produce we are known, we are unable to police the amount of electricity we produce in this country. You are not talking about giving license to people to produce weed. While I don’t have the potential of stopping this, the fact is that Ghana is blessed enough with gold, diamond and just recently we found E-Levy, none of them is able to save our country,” the MP added.

Meanwhile, the new Vice Chair of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Sarah Adwoa Safo disagreed with Mr Agbodza.

According to her, cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes will help Ghana economically.

“We’re not talking about just a leaf in someone’s backyard, we’re talking about a whole industry that is been created. And if we have our fertile lands here, and we can grow and make sure that the right framework is in place, I don’t see why we can’t take advantage of it,” she said.

Cannabis of THC 0.3 has little to no psychoactive effects and can be purposed into ropes, paper, and other building materials among others.