Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, the Minister of the Interior, has clarified that although Ghana has legalised the cultivation of cannabis, popularly known as “weed,” only industrial cannabis with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 0.3 per cent is permitted for cultivation.
He said those cannabises were strictly for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, while responding to questions when he appeared before Parliament’s Assurances Committee, during a public hearing at Parliament House on Tuesday, emphasised that the legalisation did not grant citizens the right to cultivate any type of cannabis indiscriminately.
He explained that the Ministry, in collaboration with the Narcotics Control Commission, in 2025 undertook 2,170 community sensitisation activities and radio programmes, reaching an estimated 500,000 people nationwide on the guidelines and dangers of narcotic drug cultivation.
He added that the awareness campaign also included the establishment of students’ drug clubs in schools to strengthen education on narcotics.
The Minister announced that government plans to recruit more narcotics intelligence experts to all the 261 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
He said currently Narcotics Control Commission offices were operational in 66 MMDAs, but the Ministry was working to expand coverage nationwide within the next five to seven years.
Ghana’s legal framework for cannabis cultivation is guided by the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1100) and the Narcotics Control Commission Regulations, 2023 (L.I. 2475), which permit controlled cultivation of cannabis with (THC ≤0.3%) for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Recreational use remains illegal, and all activities require licensing through the Commission.
By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA