The Parliament of Ghana gives green light to medical cannabis and industrial hemp legalisation

During the plenary session on Friday, 20 March, the Parliament of Ghana approved the bill that contemplates industrial hemp production and medical cannabis use. At a time when the Coronavirus pandemic occupies most of the political agenda of the country as well as most of the debate in the plenary of the House, the congressmen still found time to discuss cannabis. The bill, formulated in 2019 by Ghana's Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), was approved in Congress, but is still to be ratified by the president of the country, Nana Akufo-Addo, for it to be effective.

👇In the video below you can watch the medical cannabis legalisation debate during the parliamentary plenary celebrated on 20 March in Ghana's House of Representatives.👇

This bill does not contemplate production or consumption of psychoactive cannabis, and clearly stipulates that cannabis THC levels can never exceed 0.3%. As in other countries, regulation of both CBD use and hemp production are being taken into consideration, but by no means are psychoactive Sativa plants being legalised. In addition, both recreational use and growing without a license are still considered illegal.

Funnily enough, if this bill is finally approved, industrial hemp cultivation will remain in NACOB's hands, even though hemp is not a narcotic. According to the digital magazine Hemp Today, some people have not taken this well: the president of Ghana's Hemp Association Nana Kwaku Agyeman insists that "the inexperienced drafters of Ghana's drug laws blindly categorise industrial hemp as part of the basket of narcotics despite extensive facts to the contrary."

What's more, Ghana's Ministry of the Interior would also work in compliance with this Act in conjunction with other ministries, including the Ministry of Health, and would also be in charge of the granting of cultivation licenses.

Ghana's Hemp Association and their experience in industrial hemp cultivation

Hemp growing in Ghana is nothing new. Several firms already established in the country are dedicated to this activity. In fact, there has been a Hemp Association in Ghana since July 2019. They are the cannabis activists in a country where the words 'hemp' and 'cannabis' are forbidden, and where cannabis use and cultivation are heavily punished by the law. This association defends medical use, the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids, and the economic benefits that industrial hemp cultivation would bring to the national economy.

The Rastafari Council of Ghana: a country with deep rastafari traditions

Rastafari culture is extraordinarily important in Ghana. So much so that the country has its own Rastafari Council for the defence of rastafari rights. One of those rights is cannabis use, something that the members of this community practise almost religiously and regard as an essential part of their way of life.

In 2019 the Rastafari Council's main objective was the fight for cannabis decriminalisation. That year Ghana became the epicentre of the 'Year Of Return' movement, which saw many Afroamericans return 'home' ('home' meaning 'the African continent').

The Rastafari Council has publicly applauded the approval of this bill. The Council's president, Ahuma Bosco Ocansey, sees this law as a visionary act. He has stated that he trusts that Ghana's government will make the most of this opportunity to put cannabis legalisation at the forefront of the political agenda, which in turn could lead to the generation of high-quality jobs for the population as well as to the regeneration of the environment.