Member of Parliament for Adaklu and Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has sounded a cautionary note regarding the enforcement of laws pertaining to the use of cannabis, commonly known as “wee.”
Expressing his concerns, Agbodza warned that the legislation might be susceptible to abuse, necessitating a careful and balanced approach to its implementation.
“And that anybody caught using cannabis for recreational purposes on the belief that it has been legalized will only be putting themselves in trouble,” he said.
On Thursday, a Legislative Instrument brought forth by the government through the Interior Minister reached maturity. This legislative tool will bring into effect the previously enacted law legalizing the utilization of cannabis for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Dr Dominic Ayine, emphasized that Parliament has not approved legislation to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes.
“And none of you is talking about the potential of abuse and how that can degenerate into mental health problems we already have in this country. Why are we pretending that this is going to solve our problem? Minister? Do you even know how many people in this country are smoking weed?” he quizzed.
“Even electricity that the sources we produce we are known, we are unable to police the amount of electricity we produce in this country. You are not talking about giving license to people to produce weed. While I don’t have the potential of stopping this, the fact is that Ghana is blessed enough with gold, diamond and just recently we found E-Levy, none of them is able to save our country,” the MP added.
Meanwhile, the new Vice Chair of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Sarah Adwoa Safo disagreed with Mr Agbodza.
According to her, cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes will help Ghana economically.
“We’re not talking about just a leaf in someone’s backyard, we’re talking about a whole industry that is been created. And if we have our fertile lands here, and we can grow and make sure that the right framework is in place, I don’t see why we can’t take advantage of it,” she said.