First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu says one who keenly studies Rastafarianism will know that it involves the smoking of weed which is an illegality in Ghana.

The Bekwai lawmaker was speaking on the floor of parliament today as MPs made submissions on the raging issue of Rastafarian students having been denied admission by Achimota School.

“If you study Rastafarianism, it involves the smoking of weed. It includes the smoking of weed and weed is an illegal substance, it is not a substance that is permitted to be smoked,” he stressed.

He emphasized the need for the issue to be handled locally by the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education.

He however insisted that in the interest of respect for school regulations, the school needed to be allowed to enforce necessary regulations without hindrance.

“Does Achimota school have the right to prescribe hair style?” he asked rhetorically.

“If you bring in religion you complicate the matters,” he said in reaction to the point that Rastafarianism was a religion which the embattled students had the right to associate with and manifest same in their everyday lives.