Ghana opens licensing for low-THC cannabis

Ghana formally launched a licensing programme for low-THC cannabis in March 2026. The framework covered cultivation and management for medical and industrial purposes, but it did not legalise recreational cannabis or create a legal source of high-THC products for adults.

A programme built on the 2023 rules

Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak announced the programme in Accra. The legal foundation was the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Act 2023 and the Cultivation and Management of Cannabis Regulations 2023.

Together, those measures provided the basis for licensing cannabis within a strict low-THC framework. Ecofin described the launch as the point at which Ghana formally opened the programme rather than as a general relaxation of the country’s drug laws.

Who could apply

Individual applicants had to be Ghanaian citizens or permanent residents and at least 18 years old. Companies faced nationality and control requirements: at least half of their ownership had to be Ghanaian, and Ghanaian nationals had to form a majority of the board.

Those conditions kept participation tied to Ghanaian residents and businesses. They also meant that the launch concerned licensed commercial activity, not personal cultivation. A person could not rely on the programme simply to grow cannabis for their own recreational use.

Medical and industrial goals

The government presented the framework as a controlled agricultural and economic programme. Its stated aims included protecting public health and security while attracting investment, creating jobs—especially in rural areas—and generating revenue.

The scope remained narrow. Ecofin reported a low-THC cultivation and management system limited to medical and industrial uses. Licensing therefore regulated a particular crop and supply chain; it did not remove the offences applying to unlicensed cannabis or supply a retail adult-use market.

Its immediate significance was the opening of a tightly controlled licence process, not a change in the rules governing ordinary personal possession.

In the index

The launch did not move Ghana’s six scores. The index already treated licensed low-THC production as distinct from personal cannabis freedom, and the programme did not legalise possession, home growing, sharing, use or adult access to THC cannabis. It is recorded as implementation context for the country’s medical and industrial framework.^[1]