Acting Director, Public Affairs at Narcotic Control Commission (NACOC), Francis Opoku Amoah, says they decided to destroy the 50,000 kilogrammes of cannabis with a street value of GH¢50 million because it was illegal.
According to him, no law mandates them to sell such cannabis since it is illegal and against the laws of the country.
He told Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Friday the cannabis they burnt was recreational and no one would have bought it and so there was no need.
“No law asks us to sell cannabis after it had been impounded. It is an illegal activity. What we are saying as a commission is that, the cannabis that was burnt had a very high TAC content which can destroy people‘s lives when taken.
“We hear people say that when you go to other countries, they use it. Those are hemp and the TAC content is very small and had industrial usage and medicinal usage and that is what people are allowed to even use it because it has its positive side and not the ones we burn recently, that one was very deadly and so there was no way we could have sold it,” he said.
His comment comes after about 50,000 kilogrammes of cannabis with a street value of GH¢50 million was destroyed some days ago by NACOC.
The exercise which took place at the Bundase Military Training Camp in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region also involved officials from the Court, Police, Military, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Standards Authority and international partners from Drug Enforcement Administration, Na¬tional Crime Agency.
The cannabis was seized from suspects between 2021 and January 2023 and destroyed following a court order.
But Mr Opoku Amoah said the exercise was in accordance with the Commission’s law, Act 1019, which requires NACOC to seize, investigate, and prosecute perpetrators, as well as destroy seized narcotic drugs after following all legal procedures.
He said the Commission was mandated to destroy seized narcotic drugs after conducting all necessary investigations.