By Elsie Appiah-Osei,
Accra, Dec 15, GNA – Parliament on Thursday granted Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, the authority to grant licenses and permit the cultivation of cannabis, a drug obtained from the hemp plant (cannabis sativo), for medicinal and industrial purposes.
However, the cultivation would not exceed more than 0.3 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content (the active ingredient) on a dry weight basis for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Consequently, the regulation would license the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale, export and importation of cultivars, grains, seeds and biomass of cannabis with not more than 0.3 per cent THC content.
The approval was a result of the maturity of the regulation after being laid before the House on Thursday, November 9, 2023, by Mr Dery, under Article 11(7) (a) of the Constitution and Order 77 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker, therefore referred the Instrument to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee for consideration and report to the House subsequently.
The Legislative Instrument (LI) will also provide for a strict licensing regime throughout the value chain, that is from production and processing to transportation and distribution.
The LI’s pursuit would be to operationalise paragraph (b) of subsection (3) Section 112 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).
Section 13 provides that the Minister of the Interior shall cause to be laid in Parliament regulations to “restrict or prohibit the export or import of any goods.”
Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, who moved the motion for the adoption of the Committee’s report on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, December 14, said there had been a global shift and the increasing realisation of the benefits of cannabis cultivation.
The benefits, including being used for industry and medicine, were reflected in the passage of the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019).
He said Parliament, after deep consideration and deliberation, voted to pass the Act with a provision to legalise the cultivation and use of cannabis for industrial and medicinal purposes.
The Act mandated the Interior Minister, on the recommendation of the Board, to make regulations by legislative instrument to give effect to or enable effect to be given to the Act within 12 months after its coming into force.
“This regulatory milestone is expected to pave the way for the development of a well-regulated cannabis industry in Ghana, ensuring that its cultivation and usage adhere to strict guidelines and quality standards,” he said.
The smooth passage of the L.I. into law was truncated due to the declaration of the Supreme Court in the case of Ezuame Mannan vs The Attorney-General & The Speaker of Parliament (Ezuame case), which declared section 43 of the Law as unconstitutional.
To resolve the case, the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed into law by Parliament to empower the minister to grant licenses for cannabis cultivation within the country.
According to Dr Ayine, also a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga East, the Committee noted the significant benefits Ghana would derive from the cultivation of the plant in a regulated manner.
“…So Mr Speaker, I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not for the legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis,” Dr Ayine said.
Contributing to the debate on the motion, Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, an NDC MP for Adaklu, inquired about how effective control measures could be put in place to stop the potential hazards associated with the cultivation of cannabis in the country.
He said: “The young man abusing wee in Ghana would not take such substance to the laboratory to test the 0.3 per cent THC content before he smoked it.”
“And none of you is even talking about the potential abuse and how that can degenerate into mental problems we all have in this country.”
“Even though the sources of electricity produced in Ghana are known, the authorities are unable to police the amount of electricity produced… and you are now talking about giving licence to people to produce Cannabis (wee)?.”
He, therefore, expressed worry over clauses to be contained in the Instrument to regulate effectively the cultivation of wee and also urged the House to be cautious in the LI.
GNA