Professor Akwasi Osei, who served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority (MHA) in the past, has encouraged the government to go gently while deciding whether or not to legalise the production of cannabis in big numbers.
Due to a lack of understanding on the various varieties of cannabis, in his opinion, individuals will plant the harmful cannabis alongside the cannabis that is required for therapeutic purposes if proper precautions are not followed.
Prof. Osei argued that adequate public education and sensitization need to have taken place prior to the announcement in order to assist in mitigating the difficulties that the move is likely to generate.
His plea came after the Minister of the Interior regained the right to award licences for the cultivation of small quantities of cannabis, often known as "wee" in Ghana, for industrial and therapeutic uses. His call came after the Minister of the Interior regained this power.
The Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023 was voted on and approved by Parliament during the previous week, on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.
The Narcotics Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) will be updated thanks to the new bill.
The new one, which replaces section 43, gives the Minister of the Interior the authority to issue licences for the production of cannabis, which is referred to as "wee" in Ghana but is more frequently referred to as "weed" in slang. This provision was added because the previous one had expired.
For industrial uses, such as obtaining fibre or seed, or for therapeutic purposes, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level of the plant must be less than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
A person who has been granted a licence under the Bill is not allowed to cultivate cannabis for recreational use, according to this provision of the bill.
After the bill was reintroduced in Parliament as the Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023 to amend the Narcotics Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), the Minister of the Interior was granted more authority as a result of this development.
In accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution and the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the matter, the newly added section 43 gave the legislature the opportunity to discuss the policy rationale underlying the provision in question.
Hasten slowly
However, during a radio discussion programme called "Focus" that aired on GBC's Uniiq Radio and was monitored by Graphic Online, Professor Akwasi Osei, a psychiatrist who has a great deal of experience in the field of mental health and who recently retired from his position as the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Mental Health Authority, stated that proper public education ought to have come before the announcement.
According to him, this might have assisted in mitigating some of the difficulties that the transfer is expected to cause.
Due to a lack of understanding on the various varieties of cannabis, in his opinion, individuals will plant the harmful cannabis alongside the cannabis that is required for therapeutic purposes if proper precautions are not followed.
According to Professor Osei, there are many distinct forms of cannabis, but generally speaking, there are only three, and even today we are down to two.
There are three different varieties of cannabis: indica, sativa, and ruderalis.
According to Professor Osei, "Now the difference between the cannabis sativa and the cannabis indica is that, the cannabis sativa contains the high chemical called the THC – Tetrahydrocannabinol."
When asked what makes individuals desire to smoke for recreational purposes, he stated that "it is the THC that makes one high." Up to 0.3 percent of THC can be found in indica strains of the cannabis plant.
In order to be fair to Parliament, he explained that the strain of cannabis known as indica was the one that was approved for legalisation because it contains up to 0.3% THC.
Supreme court's judgement
The decision that the Supreme Court made on July 27, 2022 in the case of Ezuame vrs. the Attorney-General and the Speaker of Parliament made it necessary for the bill to be drafted and introduced into parliament.
In the aforementioned judgement, the Supreme Court of the United States deemed Section 43 of Act 1019 to be unconstitutional and, as a result, invalid and ineffective.
On July 28, 2022, a seven-member panel of the supreme court found that Section 43 of Act 1019 violated Article 106 of the Constitution, which describes the processes that a bill must go through before it is approved into law by Parliament, and that it was therefore null and void. The result was reached with a majority vote of 4-3, and the panel's conclusion was handed down.
According to the court's interpretation, the failure to hold a debate on Section 43 of Act 1019 constituted not only a clear breach of the Constitution's Article 106 in its written form but also a violation of the law in its intended purpose.
"There was notably no debate in Parliament on such an important and mode of policy, which was quite surprising." It goes without saying that this kind of behaviour and approach to lawmaking violates the Constitution's mandates regarding transparency and accountability.
"In our opinion, the demands of constitutional faithfulness require that such a shift in policy, which is intended to result in a novel exception, ought to be debated in order to satisfy the purpose of Article 106. This is because such a shift in policy is intended to result in a novel exception.
In the event that this was not possible, the highest court stated that the procedure that Parliament had chosen violated both the letter and the spirit of the constitution.
The court came to the conclusion that its ruling "does not in any way, shape, or form, derogate from the power and independence of Parliament in the conduct of its proceedings but in accordance with our supreme Constitution."
According to Section 43 of Act 1019, "the Minister on the recommendation of the Commission, may grant a licence for the cultivation of cannabis, commonly referred to as "wee" in Ghana, which is not more than 0.3% THC content on a dry weight basis for the purposes of obtaining fibre or seed for medicinal purposes." This provision states that "the Minister may grant a licence for the cultivation of cannabis, which is not more than 0.3% THC content on a dry weight basis."
The Time Sensitivity of the Bill
Ophelia Mensah, the Vice Chairperson of the committee, moved a motion for the House to adopt the report of the Defence and Interior Committee which considered the bill. She stated that the committee had met and determined that the bill was of an urgent nature and should therefore be taken under a certificate of urgency. The motion was for the House to adopt the report of the committee.
She stated that the urgency was a result of the multiple benefits that Ghana stood to gain by authorising the Minister of the Interior to regulate the production of cannabis that had a THC level of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. The urgency was a result of the numerous benefits that Ghana stood to achieve by doing this.
"It was brought to the attention of the Committee that, prior to the Ruling of the Supreme Court, the Narcotic Control Commission and the Ministry of the Interior had held pre-laying engagements with the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Draught Regulations of Act 1019, including provisions for operationalizing section 43 of the Act. This information was brought to the attention of the Committee when it was discovered that these engagements had taken place.
"The reintroduction of the said section which was struck down as unconstitutional, will therefore restore the Act to its full original provisions and accordingly pave the way for the regulations to be laid in Parliament in accordance with Article 11 (7) of the Constitution and Order 77 of the Standing Orders of Parliament," she said. "The regulations will then be able to be laid in accordance with Article 11 (7) of the Constitution and Order 77 of the Standing Orders of Parliament."
In addition, the Member of Parliament for Mfantseman stated that, according to the information that was gathered by the committee, prior to the ruling of the Supreme Court, foreign investors had begun making preparations to begin investing in the cultivation of cannabis. These preparations included entering into agreements with local partners and joint venture companies.
Mrs. Ophelia continued by saying that "some urgency is therefore required in the passage of the Bill" in order to minimise the potential losses that could be incurred by interested investors.
Supreme Court Judgement
Section 43 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019) was declared illegal by the highest court in the land in July of the previous calendar year.
Under Section 43 of Act 1019, the Minister of the Interior may, on the suggestion of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), award a licence to an entity to cultivate cannabis with a Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level of not more than 0.3 percent for use in industrial and therapeutic applications.
According to Article 106(5) and (6) of the Constitution of 1992, the court ruled that the bill was unconstitutional since there was no debate in Parliament on it before it was passed into law. This was a requirement for the passage of the law.
Again, the supreme court was of the opinion that the explanatory memorandum that was attached to the bill that was presented to Parliament did not explain out in full the policy change, the flaws in the existing law, or the necessity to create a law that would licence the cultivation of cannabis. This conclusion was based on the court's careful consideration of the matter.
In its opinion, the omission in question constituted a breach of Article 106 (2) of the Constitution
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