This, he said, would not only enhance public health, but also break networks of cartels and bring to the barest minimum the supply of illicit drugs and trafficking activities.

Mr Adu-Amanfoh made the call at the opening session of a day’s workshop for Judges and Magistrates, on the new Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019) in Sunyani in the Bono region.

The Judicial Training Institute, jointly with the POS Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), a non-governmental organisation organised the workshop on the theme “The Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019): Effective Implementation of the Act, and The Role of Judges and Magistrates in Handling People Who Use Drugs”.

Among its objectives, the workshop seeks to equip the participants with the requisite knowledge on changes that had been introduced by the Act, and the jurisdiction conferred on the trial court by Act 1019.

Mr Adu-Amanfoh said curtailing drug trafficking remained a shared and collective responsibility among all stakeholders, including security services, judiciary, and the public, emphasising that the Commission alone could not shoulder the herculean responsibility, and appealed for massive public support.

Superintendent Stephen Nti, In-charge of Records, regretted that the Sunyani Central Prisons built with an initial capacity of 450 inmates, currently contained 915 inmates, thus recording over-crowding of more than 100 per cent.

He said a total of 31 inmates had been convicted of narcotic offences and were serving sentences ranging from 15 years and below for mostly possession of narcotic drugs cases, with six other inmates being on remand in the facility awaiting sentencing for various narcotic offences.

“We are therefore hopeful that the pragmatic approach of adopting less punitive alternative custodial sentencing which is also in line with other UN resolutions and commitments to address drug use and possession, will be a breakthrough that represents an important example for drug policy reform advocacy in Ghana,” Supt. Nti stated.

Justice Tanko Amadu, the Director of the Judicial Training Institute and a Justice of the Supreme Court, and Mr Yaw Akrasi-Sarpong, a former boss of the then Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) were among the facilitators.

They were expected to take the participants through the Act 1019; the role of judges in its application in line with best practices; drug use and dependence as public health issues; and a focus on the neurobiology of drugs.

Other related topics included ‘Ghana’s Commitment to International and Regional Drug Reform and How to Effectively Meet These Commitments,’ as well as Thinking Outside the Box,’ ‘Cannabis Governance, The International and National Perspectives’.

The Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020, Act 1019 was passed on 20th March 2020, received presidential assent on 11th May 2020, and it came after a prolonged period of searching for more effective responses by law enforcement authorities and the community in addressing the drug situation.