Ghana’s Parliament in 2020 passed a law that legalized the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, giving oversight to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), a part of the Ministry of Interior. That law drew criticism of stakeholders and was later struck down by the country’s high court, which ruled it unconstitutional because it lacked parliamentary debate.
Under the new law, the Ministry of the Interior retains oversight of hemp licensing and rulemaking. Ghana stakeholders have promoted hemp as a method to clean up the environment, and to generate taxes.
This could be a big step for Ghana as agriculture in Ghana makes up more than 50% of the country’s GDP, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and accounts for more than 40% of export earnings.
Photo by Asiama Junior
