Ghana Officially Legalizes Hemp for Medicinal and Industrial Use

Not only does the country’s new law legalize hemp, it completely changes Ghana’s policy on illegal drugs.

Ghana just legalized the medical and industrial use of hemp, joining the small but growing wave of cannabis reform in Africa.

Last Friday, Ghana’s Parliament passed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, granting the country’s Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) extended powers to regulate the industrial use of certain prohibited substances. During the Parliamentary debate, lawmakers also added a clause to the bill that legalizes the production of hemp for medical and industrial use. Like the US, Ghana imposes a limit of 0.3 percent THC on all legal cannabis plants.

Ghanaian businesses have traditionally used hemp to create jute sacks for packaging cocoa and other produce. But because the country’s previous drug laws prohibited the domestic production of hemp, businesses had to import hemp from other countries. Now, local farmers will be able to produce this crop on their own soil and sell it to local businesses.

Hemp also has thousands of other industrial uses, and has traditionally been used to make clothing, paper, fiber, and even bioplastics. The new law also legalizes medicinal products, which could include low-THC and CBD products among other non-psychoactive cannabinoids.

Although the law was only passed three days ago, the country’s nascent hemp industry is ready for business. The Hemp Association of Ghana (HAG) has already signed a deal with a Ghanaian-owned cannabis company in Portugal which is expected to net over $56 million in the next five years.

Read the full article at MerryJane

 

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