Cannabis policy reform in West Africa needs to be inclusive

African countries have seen major shifts in cannabis policy in recent years. Countries, such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, have lifted some criminal sanctions and created legal markets for medicinal and industrial uses, while South Africa has also legalised the private production for personal use. Elsewhere, including Nigeria and Kenya, cannabis prohibition remains in place, though debate about such policy has grown strong. These shifts are in line with reforms in other parts of the world, yet cannabis and policy in Africa has important and understudied local dynamics.The ‘Cannabis Africana: Drugs and Development in Africa’ research project, based at the Universities of Bristol and Cape Town, studies the impact of changing policies and what they mean for the rights and lives of people in the cannabis trade. It is the first empirical study to examine the nexus between cannabis, cannabis policy and livelihoods across four African countries, as well as in the wider regional context.As part of the project, and in partnership with the West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) andthe International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), a policy workshop was held in Accra, Ghana on 8 and 9 November 2023. It engaged key policymakers, practitioners and cannabis market insiders with research on cannabis and recent policy reforms in Africa. The workshop discussions as well as the project findings, especially from Nigeria and Zimbabwe, are the basis of this policy brief