Statement of RCG Advocacy Commission In Response to the Remarks of the Minister of Trade, Agri-business & Industry
ABOLISH CANNABIS PROHIBITION
The Rastafari Council of Ghana’s Advocacy Commission notes the Minister's statement that dealing in cannabis is Christian, on the grounds that it will be used for the manufacture of medicine. The Commission states plainly what this claim covers and what it does not.
The Minister's statement addresses state-regulated medicinal cannabis, capped at 0.3% THC. It does not address the herb used holistically by the marijuana community. These are different substances under different regimes. The Commission does not accept a conflation of the two.
The Minister stated that she encourages people to enter the cannabis business and make money while healing people. The Commission states that this encouragement concerns investment in medicinal and industrial cannabis, both of which have been legal in Ghana already. It is not a new development and does not change the legal status of the herb used by the marijuana community.
The Commission has documented that legalization of medicinal and industrial cannabis has not improved the economic conditions of marijuana communities in Lesotho, in Zimbabwe, or in Jamaica. In each case, the primary beneficiaries have been foreign investors. The marijuana community's core demand - an end to harassment, arrest, and extortion of pushers, farmers, and users - has not been met by legalization in these cases.
Responsibility for this outcome is shared. Prior cannabis advocacy, in Ghana and elsewhere emphasized the economic and industrial value of cannabis. Unlike our present insistence on the abolition of cannabis prohibition, the previous emphasis generally treated the end of persecution of the marijuana community as a secondary matter. The state's current approach - issuing licences to entities with capital and extraction facilities - follows directly from this emphasis.
The Commission states its position: cannabis prosperity within marijuana communities does not require state involvement. These communities should be permitted to operate without interference, as they have operated across generations.
The categories of medicinal, industrial, recreational, and sacramental cannabis were established by prohibitionists over the past century. Those categories were not established by people with a relationship to the plant. We do not accept these categories as the basis of our position.
The Advocacy Commission’s demand is the removal of cannabis from Ghana's criminal law. This demand is separate from and prior to any discussion of medicinal or industrial markets.
As Ras Kofi Asante, of this Commission has said, "It's been four long decades since Peter Tosh said we don't have to go to jail for ganja." Four decades have passed without meaningful action on this point. He draws attention to the futility (and hypocrisy) of the continued marijuana-related persecution.
The Commission calls on the Minister, the Government of Ghana, and the Christian community of Ghana to act on the fuller implication of the Minister's statement.
On behalf of the Commission, the Chair, Khex Pongo, calls for the end of arrests and prosecutions for the use, sale, and cultivation of cannabis, and for the release of all persons currently held on these grounds.
Rastafari Council of Ghana, Advocacy Commission
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