Parliament has passed the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) Bill, 2023, into law.
The passing will grant the Interior Ministry authority to issue licenses for the cultivation of cannabis that has not more than 0.3% utility content on dry weight spaces for industrial or medicinal purposes.
This comes after the Supreme Court impeded the passage of the law by striking out Section 43 of the law as unconstitutional.
Section 43 empowers the Interior Minister to secure a license for an entity to cultivate a small quantity of cannabis in Ghana for industrial and medicinal purposes.
The Supreme Court said that because there was no debate on the floor on that section, it was null and void.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, and the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, slammed the apex court for that order.
On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, Parliament amended the law and inserted the same provision back into it.
“Honourable members the Narcotics Bill, 2023 is being read the third time and passed,” the Speaker said after none stated an objection to the passing.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hempire Association of Ghana, Nana Kweku Agyemang has disclosed that the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes will help in absorbing all the chemicals on the farmlands caused by the activities of illegal and small-scale mining.
“Cannabis is good for the environment because at the moment we are clamouring to deal with galamsey and there are farmers sitting there looking at lands they would previously pay peanuts for and those lands have been poisoned with mercury and other toxic chemicals.”
He went on, “Well, I wish to inform you that when we cultivate industrial hemp on that land, those lands would be reclaimed because the industrial cannabis will absorb all the toxins over a period of time and the farmers will be able to go back to those farmlands and start cultivating high-value crops.
The advocate for decriminalization and legalization of cannabis sativa (industrial hemp) and cannabis indica (medicinal marijuana) in Ghana further stated that parliament’s passing of the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, 2023, into law will also help reduce Ghana’s unemployment rate.
“The same is true with our water bodies, the cultivation of industrial cannabis in those water bodies and the banks will clean up those water bodies so that we can return to them and use them in our everyday day domestic lives,” he said on Accra-based TV3.
