Interior Ministry pushes for full implementation of Ghana’s Drug Law

Accra, July 8, GNA – Mr. Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, the Deputy Minister for the Interior, has called for the urgent passage of the Legislative Instrument (LI) to operationalise the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).

He said Ghana must move beyond policy commitments to fully implement reforms that treated drug use as a public health and human rights issue.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at the Second National Dialogue on Drug Policy, Human Rights and Public Health, organised by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) and partners in Accra, on the theme: “Advancing from Law into Implementation.”

Although Act 1019 established a more balanced legal framework, inconsistencies in its implementation mean that people accused of minor drug offences continue to enter the criminal legal system when alternative interventions should be available. Thousands of people experiencing drug dependence also lack adequate health and social services, while HIV testing remains low and concerns over preventable infections and overdose are increasing.