‘Wee Teacher’ arrested after visiting marijuana farmers

An infamous social media sensation, Wee Teacher, who is pushing for the legalization of marijuana in the country has been arrested in the Eastern region for possessing quantities of dried leaves suspected to be marijuana.

He was arrested on Sunday at a Police Check Point in Nkurakan after a search in a commercial vehicle he was onboard and handed over to the Nkurakan Police where he was put behind bars. He is expected to be handed over to the Regional Police Command for further investigation.

The self-appointed Wee President of Ghana, told the Police that he was returning from a visit to marijuana farmers in the area to encourage them to cultivate more of the plants as advocacy is being intensified to legalize the use of the substance.

Wee teacher was arrested in December 2019 for smoking weed in public at an event in Accra. His relentless campaign for the legalization of the substance has gained him prominence on both social media and traditional media.

There have been calls by groups and individuals in Ghana for the legalization of Marijuana.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior, Seth Kwame Acheampong, in November 2019 recommended to Parliament of Ghana the need to decriminalise possession and use of marijuana (wee) and other related drugs.

The lawmaker mounted evidence when he presented a report on the Narcotics Control Commission (NCC) Bill 2019.

“Ghana needs to take a cue from other progressive countries and consider alternatives to punishment or incarceration of people who use drug and other alternatives to ending the criminalisation of people who use drugs.

“Criminalisation of drug use and possession has led to the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of thousands of Ghanaians across the country,” the report noted.

His call was supported by some members of Parliament who argued that it was the time that Ghana took a bold step to legalise commercial farming of the plant in the country.

The MPs explained that the market value of the substance has attracted many farmers to use their farmlands for the cultivation of the ‘weed’

In their argument, they referenced the fact that presently, a gram of cocoa bean was priced under US$ one cent (GH¢ 5.50 pesewas) while the same quantity for marijuana was fetching US$ 10.00 dollars approximately (GH¢54.00) on the world market.

Therefore, in their opinion, applying the economics of scale of preference under such circumstances, marijuana could fetch the nation big revenue in terms of foreign exchange earnings better than cocoa was offering today.