NACOB unveils activities for drug day

STORY: MILLICENT YARO
Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) an organisation that was established under section 55 of the PNDC Law 236 to address problems associated with the use of drugs has launched activities to mark this year’s International Drug Day Celebration which falls on Saturday, June 26, 2010.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Think Health Not Drugs’.
In an address delivered by Sheikh Ishaak Nuamah, a member of the board, on behalf of the Executive Secretary of NACOB, Mr Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, in Accra yesterday, he indicated that the day has been specially set aside by the United Nations (UN) to create awareness on some of the dangers that the use of illicit drugs pose for the youth in society.
“According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) the number of youth who go into drugs is high among the population. This means that there is a great cause for worry and the situation will have adverse effect on the country if measures are not taken to curtail it”, Mr Sarpong noted.
He indicated that some youth out of shear curiosity try to examine the use of hard drugs themselves and this according to him has caused many of them to be addicted.
In his address, the chairman of NACOB, Capt, (GN) Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, attributed the increase of the use of hard drugs and narcotic trade to the porous nature of the Ghanaian borders.
He lamented that the Ghanaian borders are so lax that the drug dealers easily outwit the check points and succeed in transporting drugs into the country.
Mr Assasie-Gyimah further revealed that most of these drug dealers are mostly young fisher folks adding that if care is not taken in this direction our country stands a greater chance of losing more youth to drugs.
“The time has come for us as a country to minimize the level of the drug menace if not completely eliminated before the country turns into a number one consumer of drugs in West Africa”, he cautioned.
The NACOB chairman further indicated that the fight against illicit drugs cannot be curbed by NACOB and government alone but it also required collaborative efforts of NGOs, CSOs, the media and other stakeholders to win the war against drug trafficking.
He disclosed that statistics gathered at four psychiatric hospitals last year on drug related cases by the Chief Psychiatrist of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Akwasi Osei, revealed that out of the 1,656 cases Pantang Hospital recorded 541 representing 32.7% proved to be drug related cases.
“The report further indicated that, at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, the total number of attendance of the year reported were 3293 out of the number 799 representing 29% had drug related cases
He therefore advised the youth to resist friends who are likely to get them into drugs.