Kwame Governs Agbodza
Debate on a new legislation, the Narcotic Control Commission (Cultivation and Management of Cannabis) Regulations 2023 in Parliament yesterday devolved into pharmacological differentiation arguments, as MPs weighed cannabis’ economic benefits and potential abuse against each other.
Kwame Governs Agbodza, NDC MP for Adaklu and Minority Chief Whip, had raised concerns about potential exploitation by the youth of his constituency in light of the new law requiring the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, to license persons for cannabis production.
According to him, cannabis, also known on the street as ‘wee,’ is frequently abused by young people in Ghana, calling into question the country’s ability to control its use based on the licensing of selective cultivation of the medicinal plant.
He argued, “This idea that we are doing this and it is going to be under a certain control. Mr. Speaker, the Ranking [Member]talks about THC, a young man abusing weed in this country is not going to take whatever he got from a laboratory test of the THC content he smokes.”
“And none of you is talking about the potential abuse and how that can degenerate into mental health problems we have in this country,” he added.
“Why are we pretending that this is going to solve our problems? Minister, do you know how many people in this country are smoking wee, illegally, and to the extent that you are going to license people and show them where to grow the wee?” he quizzed.
“Even electricity that the sources of production are known for, we are unable to police in this country. You are now talking about giving licences to people to produce wee,” he asserted.
Response
However, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, rebutted and said cannabis is not the same as “wee”, pointing out that the one covered by the legislation has THC content of 0.3% as against 30% THC content in “wee” or marijuana.
“This is not a Regulation for the cultivation of weed; it is not at all. The point has been made right from the time this House debated the bill before it became law.
“Actually, what we are talking about now has not yet been cultivated in Ghana. This, under this Regulation, will now bring that breed – that class – and it is not called wee,” he stressed.
“That is why I would like to assure members who are already lamenting the lack of capacity to check or monitor [its cultivation] as premature.
“What is cultivated in Ghana is the wee that has the high THC and has an active content that makes people go high. This Regulation and the law that it derives [its powers] on does not legalise the cultivation of wee,” the minister intimated.
According to him, the breed that his ministry will provide license for cultivation is consumed widely in the northern part of Ghana, and noted that it is considered a vegetable in agriculture.
“First of all, it is not a drug and does not have a psychopathic element, and nutritionally, it is high for our well-being,” he insisted.
NDC MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, who chairs Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, agreed with the Interior Minister, and called on his colleague to disabuse his mind from characterising cannabis as “wee.”
“Weed contains 30% and here we are dealing with 0.3% of the THC content. So, Mr. Speaker, the subject matter of the Regulations is nowhere near marijuana or weed in this case.
“In fact, the people of Adaklu smoke what we are regulating, now they won’t get time. So he shouldn’t be worried about the youth of his constituency getting high. They will not get high at all,” he stated.
“There is a leaf that we eat called bitor in Frafra. The THC content of bitor is higher than what we have legalised. I beg the Chief Whip that what we are dealing with is not weed, for the record,” Dr. Ayine said.
Background
The Narcotic Control Commission (Cultivation and Management of Cannabis) Regulations 2023 was introduced in Parliament on November 9, 2023 by the Interior Minister, and matured yesterday.
The easy passage of the legislation into law was hampered by the Supreme Court’s declaration of section 43 of the statute as unconstitutional in the case of Ezuame Mannan versus The Attorney-General & The Speaker of Parliament Suit No. J1/11/2021 (Ezuame case).
To address the situation, Parliament enacted the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023, allowing the minister to provide permits for cannabis growing within the country.
The Subsidiary Legislation Committee stated that by enacting this legislation, Ghana will be able to take a significant step toward leveraging the potential industrial and medicinal benefits of cannabis growing, such as the production of fibre, seed, and medicine in a regulated manner.
By Ernest Kofi Adu