Is Tobacco legal in Ghana?

Legal status

Legal for adults and regulated by Part Six of the Public Health Act 2012 (Act 851), «TOBACCO CONTROL MEASURES». Section 65(1) says a person shall not «sell or offer for sale tobacco or a tobacco product to a child», and section 78 defines «"child" means a person below the age of eighteen years». Section 58(1) forbids smoking «in an enclosed or indoor area of a work place, or in any other public place except in a designated area», and section 68 forbids sale in health institutions including pharmacies, in schools other than tertiary institutions, in amusement parks, cinemas and stadiums, by vending machine, and «through the post, the internet or any other medium of communication». The Tobacco Control Regulations, 2016 (L.I. 2247) add packaging and health warning rules. Tobacco is not named in the Fifth to Eighth Schedules of the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019). Act 851 was read as printed in the Ministry of Health copy on 3 October 2026; later amendments, if any, were not traced. This is stated as the Schedules stand after the Narcotics Control Commission (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1100), which the judy.legal consolidation records as the Act's only amendment and whose Bill substitutes section 43 alone; the enacted text of Act 1100 was not itself read. The power to move the lists is in section 112: its subsection (1) gave a power to revise the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Schedules within twelve months of commencement, and its subsection (2)(b) gives a continuing power to make Regulations specifying «the classification of drugs and the appropriate penalties». The only Regulations found under the Act, L.I. 2475 of 2023 on cannabis cultivation, revise no Schedule on their table of contents, and this does not rule out a later instrument that was not found.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Act 851 prints no sentence of death. Section 77(1) makes it an offence to smoke in a public place contrary to section 58, to sell tobacco to a child contrary to section 65, to sell in a place barred by section 68, or to contravene any other provision of Part Six, punishable on summary conviction by a fine of not more than seven hundred and fifty penalty units or imprisonment of not more than three years or both, and ten penalty units a day for a continuing offence. Under section 65(4) it is no defence that the buyer did not appear to be under eighteen.

If prescribed or medical

No prescription rule applies to tobacco. Section 67(2) allows treatment of tobacco addiction to use «a non-tobacco product packaged as a tobacco or tobacco product».

Documentation

No traveller allowance for tobacco was read; customs duty rules were not checked.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Ghana’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.