The Supreme Court has denied a petition for review challenging its decision to overturn a law that permitted the cultivation of cannabis [wee] for medicinal and industrial purposes.
By a 5-4 majority decision on Wednesday [May 24, 2023], the court ruled that the Attorney-General’s (A-G) review application did not meet the Supreme Court’s review criteria.
Section 43 of Act 1019 allows the Minister of the Interior, upon the recommendation of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), to grant an entity the licence to cultivate cannabis of not more than 0.3 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content for industrial and medicinal purposes.
The apex court, by its decision, declared that the law was unconstitutional because there was no debate in Parliament on it before its passage into law, as stipulated by Article 106 (5) (6) of the 1992 Constitution.
The court further noted that the explanatory memorandum attached to the bill placed before Parliament did not set out in detail the policy change, the defects in the existing law and the necessity to introduce a law to license the cultivation of cannabis.
The court said the omission was a violation of Article 106 (2) of the 1992 Constitution.
By: Rainbowrafioonline.com/Ghana