From News Ghana April 23 2026
The Advocacy Commission of the Rastafari Council Ghana has laid out a five-point policy roadmap calling for the full decriminalisation of cannabis and its repositioning as a driver of economic growth, with projections suggesting the sector could generate up to GH¢15.5 billion annually if the reforms are implemented.
The proposals were presented at the Fifth Rastafari Cannabis Conference in Accra by Professor Yegandi Imhotep Paul Alagidede, the Bank of Ghana Chair of Finance and Economics at the University of Ghana, who argued that prohibition has failed to achieve its stated objectives and is imposing unnecessary costs on the state and affected communities.
The roadmap begins with full decriminalisation, removing criminal penalties for personal use, possession and small-scale cultivation, and redirecting enforcement resources toward a public health-based regulatory model. Professor Alagidede argued this would reduce state spending on enforcement and incarceration while creating space for a structured legal market.
The second element focuses on formalising cultural use, specifically recognising Rastafari sacramental practices within Ghana’s legal framework, protecting indigenous knowledge systems while integrating them into a regulated economic ecosystem.
A third recommendation calls for equity-driven licensing, giving smallholder farmers and cooperatives preferential access to cultivation and processing licences to ensure economic gains are retained domestically rather than captured by foreign investors.
The fourth pathway addresses reparative justice, including the expungement of criminal records for non-violent cannabis-related offences. Professor Alagidede said such measures would reduce the long-term economic burden on affected individuals and enable broader participation in the formal economy.
The fifth and final proposal calls for strategic state investment in cannabis research, innovation and industrialisation, including pharmaceutical applications, industrial hemp products and export-ready value chains.
In support of the economic case, Professor Alagidede cited data indicating that approximately 21.5 percent of Ghanaians aged 15 to 64 have used cannabis, suggesting sustained demand outside formal regulation despite strict enforcement. He argued this underscores the need for a regulated market rather than continued prohibition.
Mr Sedem Ofori, a researcher and anti-prohibition advocate who also addressed the conference, urged policymakers to reclassify cannabis for medical and industrial use as an agricultural-industrial commodity, aligning it with mainstream agribusiness policy frameworks. He highlighted the fiscal cost of cannabis-related incarceration, estimating the annual cost of maintaining an inmate at between 1,500 and 2,500 US dollars, and argued that decriminalisation could yield immediate budgetary savings.
Ghana currently permits regulated cultivation of cannabis with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content not exceeding 0.3 percent for medicinal and industrial purposes under the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 and its 2023 amendments, with recreational use remaining a criminal offence. The conference advocates are pressing for the law to go further.
Industry projections from the Chamber of Cannabis Industry Ghana estimate the sector could generate at least one billion US dollars annually once fully operational under the current restricted framework, with the global medicinal cannabis market projected to reach nearly 149 billion dollars by 2031. The Rastafari Council’s projections, which account for full decriminalisation and broader market development, place the potential domestic revenue figure significantly higher.
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