Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has said even though he smoked marijuana (wee) for twenty nine years (29), he will never advocate for its legalization in Ghana.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is pushing for the legalization of cannabis and other personal drugs.

However, he said regulations must be put in place by governments to curtail abuse.

“And therefore, the fourth and final step is to recognize that drugs must be regulated precisely because they are risky. It is time to acknowledge that drugs are infinitely more dangerous if they are left solely in the hands of criminals who have no concerns about health and safety.

“Legal regulation protects health. Consumers need to be aware of what they are taking and have clear information on health risks and how to minimize them. Governments need to be able to regulate vendors and outlets according to how much harm a drug can cause. The most risky drugs should never be available “over the counter” but only via medical prescription for people registered as dependent users, as is already happening in Switzerland,” the illustrious son of Ghana said in an article.

Commenting on the call on Peace FM Wednesday, Kweku Baako argued that the basis for the legalization of cannabis can only be effected through the single exportation of the substance and not the local consumption of it.

He said based on his experience with the banned substance, he will not push for its legalization, especially as kids of today are very adventurous and may abuse its usage.

“I used to have the competence for smoking wee. I knew how it was…proper one not the buga buga type, correct wee from Nsawkaw in the Brong Ahafo Region. There are distinctions, if you don’t take care and you smoke any other type, you’ll suffer from severe headache. Yes… it got me into trouble with my father. I smoked wee consistently for almost 29 years and so make no mistake about it and I know how to handle it. But where I am now, I don’t think it’s necessary”.

He added: “I hesitate to say it should be put out there because if you are not organized or lack a certain level of self discipline and if you are not careful, it will disorientate you and I’m being blunt about that. Kids of today are so adventurous, those are implications of what are discussing. Some of us were lucky enough to escape from that world, but it’s now a big debate when you have someone like Kofi Annan joining it. So it has become a challenge that we must all confront as a country.

Kweku Baako revealed that a debate on whether to legalize marijuana first came up in Parliament in 1981.

Referring to the Hansard of a Parliamentary debate in 1981 on the matter, he said one Mr. Owusu Sekyere, who was then an MP for Sunyani, set the debate in motion by citing numerous instances in which prominent people in society had been arrested at the Kotoka International Airport for attempting to smuggle the banned substance from the country.

He said that Parliamentary debate brought very interesting points for consideration in this new call for a national debate, some of which include cultivation and exportation of the substance to countries that have legalized the marijuana use.