Nature's Vacuum: The Humble Plant Cleaning Up Chernobyl's Nuclear Fallout And Modern 'Forever Chemicals'

When we picture industrial cleanup, we imagine heavy machinery and harsh chemicals carving up the landscape. But now, an unlikely hero is emerging from the soil itself: industrial hemp, a powerful plant acting as nature's vacuum, capable of scrubbing the earth clean from the inside out. It Acts Like a Biological Vacuum Cleaner

The science behind this natural cleanup process is known as phytoremediation. Through a specific form of this called phytoextraction, hemp draws toxins from deep within the earth up into its own biomass. This isn't a passive process; the plant is uniquely equipped to seek out and absorb contaminants.

Two key biological features make this possible:

• Deep-Dive Roots: Hemp has an extensive taproot system that can reach pollutants buried deep in the subsoil, accessing toxic materials that other plants simply cannot.

• Hyperaccumulation: Hemp is a "hyperaccumulator," meaning it doesn't just tolerate toxins—it actively and efficiently draws them up. It pulls heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and nickel, and even radioactive elements, out of the soil and stores them in its stalks and leaves.

Hemp tackles everything from nuclear fallout to forever chemicals. This green technology isn't just a theory; it is already being deployed on the front lines of some of the world's most difficult environmental challenges.

Chernobyl: Following the nuclear disaster, hemp was planted in the contaminated region to help absorb radioactive isotopes from the soil and begin the long process of recovery. At former military sites in Maine, hemp has been used successfully to extract PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) the notorious "forever chemicals" that contaminate soil and water systems.

Across the United Kingdom, hemp is being used on abandoned industrial plots to strip away decades of heavy metal contamination, preparing the land for a new, clean life. Because the hemp used for this remediation is not grown as a food crop, there is no risk of these toxins entering the human food chain. Once the plants have absorbed the contaminants, the harvested biomass is disposed of safely, leaving behind cleaner, nutrient-rich earth and setting the stage for nature's recovery.

Hemp just does not take away the bad stuff; it adds back the good . Hemp’s benefits extend beyond simply removing pollutants. While it vacuums up the bad, it also actively contributes to the good, leaving the soil healthier than it found it.

As the plant grows, it improves the soil's physical structure, boosts the activity of beneficial microbes, and adds essential organic matter back into the earth. This dual-action approach makes hemp a cost-effective, eco-friendly, and restorative solution. Its rapid growth cycle means this healing process can happen in a single season, far outpacing other natural solutions.

For some of our most challenging, man-made environmental problems, a natural, plant-based solution already exists. Hemp demonstrates that effective remediation doesn't always require more chemicals or machinery, but rather a smarter partnership with the natural world's own cleanup crew. It begs the question: what other powerful, green solutions are we overlooking in our mission to heal the planet?

Anytime you think of soil pollution, think hemp!

A Law at War With Itself: How Ghana's Drug Policy is Failing its Public Health Mission

When Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019) was passed in 2020, it was celebrated as a landmark piece of legislation. It promised a revolution in drug policy—a shift from the handcuffs of the past to the healing hands of public health. Yet, approaching six years later, a fundamental paradox lies at its core. While the law speaks the language of rehabilitation, its heart still beats with the pulse of prohibition.

The Act’s stated goals are progressive: to establish a dedicated rehabilitation fund and prioritize treatment and harm reduction over pure enforcement for low-level drug offences. But by attempting to be both a healer and a jailer, Act 1019 has created a legal paradox that traps the very people it claims to rescue. The Act's punitive core remains firmly in place, creating a framework that is fundamentally at odds with its own health-focused mission.

The preliminary findings of the 2025 Integrated Bio-Behavioral Survey (IBBS) provide stark evidence that "draconian" practices persist and are costing lives. It is a law in conflict with itself, and the most vulnerable are paying the price. As the distinguished drug policy scholar Dr. Joanne Csete observed, "Plainly, there is a chasm into which policies fall on the way from the rhetoric to the reality”. 

Four Surprising Realities of Ghana's Drug Law Reform:

1) A 'Public Health' Law That Criminalizes Patients

The fundamental contradiction within Act 1019 is that it attempts to walk in two opposite directions at once. The law mandates a public health approach while simultaneously criminalizing the health condition it is supposed to treat. According to section 3(i) of the Act requires the Narcotics Control Commission to "ensure that substance use disorders are treated as a public health issue. However, section Sections 41, and 45 of the same Act explicitly criminalize the personal possession and purchase of drugs.

This internal conflict forces the law to prosecute the exact individuals it seeks to help. Instead of establishing a "user-as-patient" paradigm, it reinforces the old "user-as-criminal" model, actively deterring people from seeking the very services the law supposedly supports.

2. The Human Cost of Flawed Legislation: Evidence from the Front Lines

The legal paradoxes of Act 1019 are not theoretical. They have failed to address a public health crisis with devastating real-world consequences, as revealed by data from the front lines. The 2025 IBBS, conducted by the University of Ghana School of Public Health, paints a stark picture of a health emergency among people who use drugs:

• HIV Prevalence: HIV rates among people who inject drugs have skyrocketed to 12.5%, compared to just 2% in the general population.

• Hepatitis C prevalence among people who inject drugs in certain regions is an alarming 12.7%.

• It is estimated that over 45% of people who use and inject  drugs are battling moderate to severe depression.

These statistics are a direct consequence of fear. Nearly 50% of surveyed individuals reported being harassed or arrested by uniformed officers in the last six months. This constant threat drives people underground, away from sterile needles, HIV testing and other life-saving services. The result is a hidden epidemic: it is also estimated that only 27.7% of HIV-positive people who use drugs are aware of their status. We cannot treat what we cannot find.

3) When Legal Ambiguity Becomes a 10-Year Sentence

A critical failure of Act 1019 is its refusal to define clear, quantified thresholds that distinguish personal use from trafficking. The law’s definition is dangerously vague, stating that possession for personal use is a quantity that does not exceed what "can reasonably be used by an individual in a day" (Section 113).

This ambiguity grants arresting officers’ immense discretion to decide whether an individual is a patient or a felon facing a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence. This creates fertile ground for inequity and corruption, as police can reportedly charge individuals with the more serious offense of supply if they refuse to pay a solicited bribe.

The devastating result of this legal grey area is not theoretical. During a focus group discussion in a study conducted in 2023,  one judge recounted being forced by the law to sentence a young woman to 10 years in prison. Her crime was sending a small amount of a drug to her boyfriend hidden inside a meal of waakye. What was a simple act of personal connection was twisted by a poorly written law into a life-changing prison sentence.

4) The 'Alternative' to Jail Is a Fine Too High to Pay

Act 1019 was praised for introducing non-custodial sentences, but the exorbitant fines render this alternative an illusion for most. However, the fine for possession for personal use is between GHS 2,400 and GHS 6,000. These figures are staggering when contextualized against the average monthly salary in Ghana of around GHS 3,700. If an individual cannot pay, they face imprisonment. By international standards, these penalties are exceptionally punitive: in Switzerland, for example, possessing a small amount of cannabis results in a simple administrative fine of ........ 

As one official from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) bluntly stated, "The users liable to pay fines for use aren’t usually in a position to pay... It’s the poorer people who have no choice but to smoke in the slums, in the streets, and so on who get caught." The system has merely created a different pathway to imprisonment for the poor. 

5) A Flawed Path to Wellness: Punishment Before Treatment

The law's approach to rehabilitation contains a critical timing flaw. Under Section 45(5), the offer of treatment comes only after an individual has been prosecuted and convicted. A genuine public health model diverts people into the healthcare system instead of the criminal justice system, preventing the lifelong stigma of a criminal record. The current Ghanaian model is "punishment followed by an offer of treatment." It brands individuals as criminals first, creating immense barriers to future employment, education, and housing long after their sentence is served.

The Way Forward: Urgent Amendments to Save Lives:

To meet global goals to reduce draconian laws and stigma, Ghana must move beyond paper reforms. The following amendments are urgently needed to turn policy into life-saving practice, We need to:

1. Define the thresholds and fully decriminalize drug use: Parliament must urgently amend Sections 37, 41, and 45 of Act 1019 to specify drug quantities that distinguish personal use from trafficking. The ultimate goal should be the full decriminalization of possession and purchase for personal use; an approach aligned with recommendations from the the West African Commission on Drugs,  the whole United Nations system,  and the International Drug Policy Consortium,  among many others. Personal use should not be an offense at all.

2. Rethink sentencing: The passage of the Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill is critical to provide genuine alternatives to incarceration for petty offenses. This will reduce prison congestion, save national resources, and allow the justice system to focus on serious crime.

3. Protect and expand harm reduction services: The law must be clarified to legally protect the distribution of medical supplies like sterile syringes and naloxone. These are not "drug tools"; they are life-saving medical supplies essential to preventing overdose deaths and the spread of disease.

4. Sensitize agencies: Law enforcement and security agencies require mandatory training to view people who use drugs as patients in need of referral to health services, not as criminals to be arrested.

Conclusion:

Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 is a law in conflict with itself. It was adopted as a result of progressive, health-oriented aspirations but these are being undermined by a punitive legal core that continues to criminalise and punish the very people it seeks to help.

The 2025 IBBS data are more than just numbers; they are a mirror reflecting a public health crisis fueled by our own draconian laws. Ghana took a courageous first step with Act 1019, signaling an intent to treat drug use as a health issue. But now, it must complete the journey.

By amending the law to prioritize health and compassion, Ghana can create a coherent and effective drug policy one that saves lives by supporting its most vulnerable citizens and focuses its law enforcement resources on the organized crime that poses a true threat to public safety.

By: Maria-Goretti Ane- Loglo Esq, Africa Consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and a lawyer, health and ethics advocate, and drug policy analyst from Accra, Ghana. Contact: mloglo@idpc.net 

https://idpc.net/blog/2020/04/parliament-of-ghana-passes-historic-new-drug-law-paving-the-way-for-a-west-african-approach?

SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT: RESPONSE TO CSOS CALLING FOR CRIMINALIZATION OF DRUG USE IN GHANA.

We have read the CSOs petition to the President and the Speaker of parliament on why Ghana should not legalize cannabis.

First and foremost, we want to emphatically state, the current narcotics bill before parliament is not seeking to legalize drugs, the bill before parliament is seeking to decriminalize drug use and place the health and well-being of its citizens at the forefront of its constitutional mandate by treating drug use as a health issue.

Ghana is a signatory to the 3 international conventions, that is 1961, 1971 and 1988 convention and the preamble-of these conventions mandate all member states to place the health and well-being of its citizens in the implementation of these conventions. Fairly, is continuous punishment of people who use drugs a fulfillment of that commitment of Ghana? Absolutely no, it’s in clear violation of the letter and spirit of these very conventions.

The Conventions provide a very clear provision whereby drug use does not need to be criminalized. The 1961 Convention, Article 36 (b) explicitly states “when abusers of drugs have committed such offenses, the Parties may provide, either as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to conviction or punishment, that such individuals shall undergo measures of treatment, education, after-care, rehabilitation and social reintegration in conformity…”.

This is then repeated in the 1971 Convention (Article 22b) and the 1988 Convention (Article 3, Para 4 c and d). Please take note of a commentary on the 1988 Convention “It will be noted that, as with the 1961 and 1971 Conventions, paragraph 2 does not require drug consumption as such to be established as a punishable offense” (UN, 1988). Moreover, the term personal use has not been defined in the International drug Conventions (Marks, 2019). The International Conventions rather criminalizes possession with the intention of trafficking and not possession for personal use.

We should not forget that, imposing on  this very population with criminal records for the use of cannabis or any other drugs have ripple effects, this very population gradually become the fulcrum of any country's economy so why burden them with criminal records for the rest of their lives for committing just minor non-violent drug offenses?

The UNGASS Outcome Document, accordingly, calls on countries to “Encourage the development, adoption, and implementation, with due regard for national, constitutional, legal and administrative systems, of alternative or additional measures with regard to conviction or punishment in cases of an appropriate nature, in accordance with the three international drug control conventions and taking into account, as appropriate, relevant United Nations standards and rules, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Noncustodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules)” (Paragraph 4j).

Crucially, in the 2019 Ministerial Declaration, all governments also “reiterate our resolve, in the framework of existing policy documents… to promote, consistent with the three international drug control conventions and domestic law, and in accordance with national, constitutional, legal and administrative systems, alternative or additional measures with regard to conviction or punishment in cases of an appropriate nature”.

The new Cross-UN Common Position goes even further and “commit[s] to stepping up our joint efforts and supporting each other… To promote alternatives to conviction and punishment in appropriate cases, including the decriminalization of drug possession for personal use, and to promote the principle of proportionality, to address prison overcrowding and over-incarceration by people accused of drug crimes…

It is with sadness how some CSOs in this country try to use these very instruments to misinterpret the true meaning to Ghanaians.

The World Health Organization recommends an allowable amount of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, about 0.3% THC content and should not be criminalized.

Ghana in effect can allow an amount of 0.3% of cannabis use which according to WHO is not harmful to the human being but strictly for medicinal purposes.

The WHO has further requested the CND Commission on Narcotics Drugs) to reschedule cannabis, why? Because cannabis has medicinal values that are beneficial to humans hence should not be completely banned. (Cannabis is currently a Schedule 1 drug meaning it does not have any medicinal purpose which is not true). Additionally, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017) has confirmed the medicinal value of cannabis.

It has been reported recently that, there is conclusive evidence that cannabis is a drug and it is effective in the treatment of chronic pain, multiple sclerosis-related muscle spasms and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Regarding the link between cannabis and cancer, the Academy found evidence to the effect that, smoking cannabis does not increase the risk of cancer which is often associated with tobacco use such as lung, head and neck cancers. The United Nations human rights mechanisms also recognize that ensuring access to essential medicines is an essential element of the right to health and by ensuring the availability of essential medicines will help to achieve Target 3.b “…provide access to affordable essential medicines…”

Moreover, it is reported that there is a large burden of untreated pain around the world with as many as 80% of the world’s population without access to controlled medicines (UNODC, 2018).

What some of these CSOs in Ghana are doing is just throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians and making everyone believe Ghana will be doing the wrong thing if we decriminalize cannabis and treat drug use as a health issue as well as allowing a certain amount for medicinal purposes like in other countries.

We humbly ask parliament to first and foremost think about the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs and support them and not continue to jail them for their drug use habits.

And Secondly, Parliament has a duty to legislate laws that ensures that people who need cannabis for medicinal purpose readily have access to it to help relieve themselves of severe pain. We cannot continue to criminalize a substance that can relieve pain when we actually have what it takes as a country to embrace that. We will like to urge parliament to also consider declassifying Hemp which is non-psychoactive and allow its growth for industrial and medical purposes.  It is worth noting that the Government of Ghana and Ghana as a whole will be in line to benefit from the generation of taxes over the same period of some $10 million dollars, and that is just one farmer.

Lastly, we will like to draw parliament’s attention to the recent media alert by the INCB in June (2019), where they admonished countries for over-reliance on prohibition of drug use as the means of drug control. In actual fact, the INCB called on countries to institute alternatives to punishment.

Coming home to Africa, the Africa Union (AU) plan of action on drug control 2019-2024 that was recently adopted by ministers of Member States has called on all to ensure, that, drug control mechanisms are comprehensive and, evidence-based. The AU further called on all member states to remove criminal sanctions against people who use drugs and put in place alternatives to punishment for all who use drugs whilst also putting in place as well as adopt and implement harm reduction services for people who use drugs.

These and many other International and regional commitments are things issues Ghana as a country we should be promoting in the current bill and not seeking to digress from them.

We will like to assure all well-meaning Ghanaians that, the debate before parliament is meant to place the health and well- being of its citizens as a matter of priority and not seeking to exacerbate the current problems.

In conclusion, the WHO has recommended that “drug control should not be approached as an objective in itself but as a tool to optimize public health”. We will want to join our voices to the following international organizations;

•            The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

•            Special Rapporteurs on the right to health; on freedom from torture and other ill-treatment; and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;

•            The Committee on the Rights of the Child; and

•            The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

 in recommending the decriminalization of drug use and possession for personal use which will be an important step towards the fulfillment of the rights to health and towards protecting the safety and the well-being of communities.

This is in line with the twelve UN agencies which have jointly recommended review and repealing of laws criminalizing drug use and the possession of drugs for personal use on 27th of June, 2017.  (UNAIDS/UNHCR/UNICEF/WFP/UNDP/UNFPA/UNWomen/ILO/UNESCO/WHO/IOM/OHCHR,)

Consequently, we are only reinforcing the recommendations of all the above committees and agencies. It cannot be the case that all these committees and agencies have ulterior motives.

Ghana Strives for a More Humane Drug Policy


Recently, the government of Ghana proposed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill of 2017 (NCC) to replace the current Narcotic Drugs (Control, Enforcement, and Sanctions) Law of 1990 (PNDCL 236) that criminalizes all drug-related activities including drug use, possession, trade, and production. NCC aims to decriminalise drug consumption in Ghana. The initiative is a recognition of the grave impact on public health of the country’s current drug legislation, which imposes punitive sanctions on those engaged in the consumption, production, and trafficking. However, the ramifications of legal change could be felt beyond the country as Ghana could become a norm entrepreneur in the region for harm reduction policies.

Go to link http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPOSitAnalysisJune2018Maria-GorettiAne.pdf

In Africa, the issue of Drug use is addressed with contempt and people who use drugs are treated as criminals who have nothing to offer society other than perpetuating crimes. Governments are at the forefront of this criminalization of people who use drugs and treat the victims with the firm arm of the law, yet there has not been any improvement on the issue despite the increasing number of arrests and incarceration of people who are in conflict with the law for drug offences. In an interview with Mrs Maria-Goretti Ane -Loglo, the African Consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC); we discussed the current Drug policies and what can be done in Africa if indeed governments will want to win the so-called war on drugs. She analyzes Government approach on Drug use in relation to Human Rights and the activities of IDPC in creating awareness and influencing these Government policies to suit both the victims and society at large. Go to link http://glamsquadmagazine.com/maria-goretti-ane-loglo-speaks-on-idpc/

YOUTH PROMISE TO ADVOCATE FOR HUMANE DRUG POLICY IN GHANA

Until recently, the West Africa region has been perceived as only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to European Countries Markets. This general perception started changing since June 2014 with the release of WACD flagship reports titled ‘’Not just in transit, drugs, the States and Society in West Africa’’.

Early 2013, Kofi Annan (Former UN General Secretary) conveyed the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) chaired by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. The Commission comprised of commissioners from diverse background in West Africa such as politics, civil society, health, security and the judiciary.

After 18 months of research, looking at the evidence, consulting experts from the region and visiting some of the most affected countries and communities in the region, WACD in June 2014, released its flagship report, including a series of evidence-based recommendations for drug policies across the region.

The report shed lights on the impact of drug market in West Africa. According to the report, drug trafficking is a new threat to the development of West Africa. West Africa region is not only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to Europe but also local production and consumption are on the rise which continues to be a major issue. Organised crime syndicates exist at all levels of society in West Africa and pose a threat to good governance, peace and stability, economic growth and public health in West Africa, a region that has only recently emerged from decades of violent conflict.

A pervasive situation that is corroborated with statics from the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Organisation on Drug and Crime (UNODC). According to the UNODC, the yearly reports on the world drug problem, the prevalence rate of cannabis uses in West and Central Africa combined (12.4%) is higher than Africa and the global average, 7.5% and 3.9% respectively.

In the above statistics, the youth mostly formed the majority of the affected population. Per the Narcotics Control Board Statistics, the youth in Ghana make up the majority of the drug user community particularly youth in the Junior/ Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions.

It is in light of this worrying situations and also, recognizing the specific needs of young people, and that they are more vulnerable to drug-related harms, the Ghana chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) set to increase the level of youth awareness and engagement on drug policy debates and calls for decriminalization and support for harm reduction measures in the region.

The initiative by WADPN-Ghana is also to strengthen youth advocacy in the area of Human Rights and Drug Policy Reform.

In view of these challenges, the West Africa Drug Policy Network, Ghana Chapter (WADPN-Gh) with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and in collaboration with civil society activist in the country recognized the need to bring together youth, particularly, students, and other stakeholders who are the most vulnerable to the dangers of drugs and the need for drug policy reform to trigger drug and policy reform debates and processes. The forum focused on various approaches to effectively respond to the drug challenges with possible commitments to educating them on the need to contribute to playing advocacy role, building their capacity on understanding Ghana’s  drug policy and how to engage with their institutions to develop effective campus based strategies and not the usual 'Just say No" to drugs and also  engaging policy makers and lobbying for drug policy reforms and finally sensitizing the public and communities about the impacts of drugs on democracy, governance and the society.

Present at the forum was the African consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) who sensitized the groups about the current state of global drug policy as well as Ghana; and called on them to engender interest in advocacy and research among them. She further explained that, the youth forum was part of an advocacy within the region for evidence -based drug policy that is grounded on public health and human rights and to promote the active participation of young people in drug policy development by building the capacity of youth organizations to advocate for the rights of vulnerable people who use drugs.

Mrs. Loglo further called on the youth to join the advocacy platform for Humane Drug Policy for people suffering from problematic drug use and the need to engage in smart drug prevention programmes.

At the end of the program, the participants committed to a series of actions within their own communities including raising awareness of the rights of people who use drugs, involving community leaders, organizing social and health campaigns on drug use and facilitating activities in schools with teachers and students.

Leaders from the various youth groups pledged to called on the relevant authorities to promote the rights and inclusion of people who use drugs including establishing links between prisons, health services and civil society to ensure follow ups and continuation of services for people who use drugs after release from prison.

The day also saw the inauguration and birth of Youth Rise for Drug Policy Reform Ghana, a youth movement whose aim is to mobilize young people concerned with the impact of drugs and drug policies on individuals, families and communities in Ghana.