Ghana marks international day against drug abuse
Ghana joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, with a declaration that the menace was a threat to national development.
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Speaking at the event in Accra Friday, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Mark Woyongo, said the drug menace required the contribution of all stakeholders to successfully curtail.
The day was instituted by the United Nations (UN) in 1987 and has since been celebrated internationally on June 26 every year.
The celebration is aimed at reminding UN member states of their goal to create a society free from drug abuse and raise more awareness of the consequences of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking
The day was marked locally and internationally on the theme: “Let’s develop our lives, our communities and our identities without drugs”.
The local celebration was organised by the Narcotics Control Board ( NACOB), in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior.
Integrated drug policy
Mr Woyongo underscored the need to make the national drug policy more integrated, instead of forcing prohibition and demand reduction as mutually exclusive.
To ensure that, he said, stakeholders needed to be committed to allocating more resources to the prevention, treatment and harm reduction of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking programmes.
He commended NACOB for the tremendous strides it continued to make in the face of scarce resources in its drug demand reduction activities.
According to him, the government recognised its shared responsibility and commitment to international obligations to create a drug free Ghana and, therefore, continued to partner international and bilateral agencies to place health at the centre of drug control.
“The government had noted the need for drug addiction to be treated as a health policy issue, instead of a law enforcement issue, to effectively prevent and control it,” he said.
As a result, he said, it had become more crucial to take pragmatic measures, including raising more awareness of the dangers and consequences of illegal manufacture and the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and their trafficking.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of NACOB, Mr Yaw Akrasi-Sarpong, said the board had opened 12 regional offices to intensify education on the eradication of the menace locally.
He called on local government officials and the public to join in the campaign against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking to make it more intensive.
Educative booklet
An educative booklet compiled and distributed by NACOB defines drug as any chemical or substance used in the prevention, cure or alleviation of disease or pain or as an aid in some diagnostic procedures, including both legal and illegal substances.
It said illicit drugs were drugs which had been banned or controlled by law because when used they could be injurious to health, were addictive and affected the central nervous system.
The booklet defined drug abuse as the repeated and excessive use of a natural or synthetic substance for non-medical reasons, including producing pleasure or escaping reality, despite its destructive effects.
Writer’s email Doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh