Ghana legalises use of cannabis for health and industrial purposes

Ghana has legalised the use of cannabis for health and industrial purposes.

This is after Parliament passed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, 2019 on Friday (March 20, 2020).

The new law empowers the Minister for Interior to grant licences for the cultivation of cannabis of not more than 0.3 percent THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives the users a high sensation, for industrial and medicinal purposes.

The law also makes the country’s Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) a Commission with enhanced powers to oversee the industrial use of some narcotic substances.

The Commission, however, will still have the mandate to control and eliminate the trafficking of prohibited narcotic drugs to ensure public safety.

Punishment for the cannabis-related offences has also been stiffened, according to a source on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament.

With the legalization of Cannabis for industrial and health purposes, Ghana joins countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho, and South Africa are among counties that have decriminalised medicinal cannabis use.