NACOC says it is planning operation to clamp down on children in cannabis farms
The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it is preparing to launch targeted intelligence-led operations in the Volta Region to help dismantle cannabis farms where schoolchildren are reportedly being used as labourers.
Some basic school pupils in parts of the Volta Region are now skipping classes to work as labourers on marijuana plantations for very low wages, the President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs (VRHC), Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, recently revealed at a meeting of the House.
He described the situation as dreadful, saying the trend posed a very bleak future for the region.
Togbe Tepre Hodo, who is the Paramount Chief of Anfoega, said this at a general meeting of the VRHC in Ho.
He said young people were cultivating the weed with impunity in Vakpo and Wusuta in the North Dayi District and Gbefi in the Kpando Municipality.
The President of the VRHC said the plantations were spreading rapidly, adding that the region risked losing “normal young people” sooner than later.
“Some of the children are offered the substance to smoke on the farms, and once addiction sets in, they would definitely drift off-course,” Togbe Tepre Hodo lamented.
Togbe Hodo, therefore, called on law enforcement agencies to step in immediately to curb the menace.
Read also: Children abandon school for marijuana farms in VR
NACOC's reaction
Reacting in a radio interview on Citi FM on Wednesday, [July 23, 2025] the Acting Director of Public Affairs and International Relations at NACOC, Francis Opoku Amoah, said NACOC was planning to launch an operation on that.
Mr Amoah condemned the development, saying the involvement of minors in such illegal activities violates Ghana’s narcotics and labour laws.
“It is a wrong thing for young people who are supposed to gain knowledge, who are supposed to be educated, and who are supposed to become future leaders to engage in activities that are not lawful,” he said.
Mr Amoah noted that although the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), permits regulated cultivation of industrial hemp with a THC content of less than 0.3 per cent for medicinal or industrial purposes, no licence has been granted for such activity in Ghana.
“Even as we are talking now, the Minister for the Interior hasn't given anybody authorisation to cultivate hemp with 0.3 per cent THC,” he stated.
“Once Parliament passes the fees and charges, anybody interested can apply, but for now, no such approval exists.”
On the situation in the Volta Region, Mr Amoah said the Commission had already destroyed more than 50 acres of illegal cannabis farms in the area in previous years.
He said NACOC continues to receive weekly intelligence reports and is working closely with the Ghana Police Service, the National Intelligence Bureau, and the National Security Secretariat to step up enforcement.
“We are going to hit the Volta Region and make sure that we are not just hitting there, but we’re getting the results that will make people know that, yes, you cannot go close to cannabis, which by our law is prohibited and unlawful,” Mr Amoah said.
He explained that NACOC’s operations will go beyond clearing the farms, targeting the full network behind the illicit trade. This includes financiers, recruiters, storage sites, and distributors.
“When you go and burn the farm, there are still people who store the product and sell it. So we are making sure that once we move in, we attack all these fronts to achieve maximum results,” he added.
Mr Amoah said the Commission, under the leadership of its Executive Secretary, Brigadier General Maxwell Bobamante, is working to confront drug-related threats, particularly those involving children.
“This is a serious issue. It is a serious matter that we do not joke with at all,” he said.
The Commission also called for support from traditional leaders and community members to help curb the growing use of children on illegal drug farms and its impact on education and youth development.
