Police hunt 20-acre ganja farm owners

The police command in the Juaboso district of the Western North Region is on a manhunt for some persons who have taken charge of some hectares of the Krokosu forest for mass cultivation of marijuana.

A task force comprising the Forestry Commission, the military and the police stormed the forest on Monday, 29 April 2019 but did not see any farmer.

A local journalist in the area, Timothy Benyina Afriyie, reported that the police command intends setting fire to the weed farm.

Mr Afriyie, who accompanied the police for the operation, said: “Some illegal farmers have cultivated more than 20 acres of marijuana in the Krokosu forest, so, when we stormed there, there was no illegal farmer around but according to the Deputy Forestry Manager, Mr Yaw Obeng Asante, the commission is putting measures in place so that such illegal farmers do not destroy the forest”.

Meanwhile, there are calls from a section of Ghanaians including the Rastafari Council of Ghana for the legalisation of marijuana in the country.

The Council served notice last month that it will head to the Supreme Court to seek an interpretation of the law that bans the use of marijuana, as part of measures to pile pressure on parliament to decriminalise the herb.

The Council’s chairman, Khex Ponto, said the laws of the country have been skewed against users of the herb.

He argued that the herb has enough medicinal value that ought to be considered rather than criminalised.