Drug-related cases soar in Ghana

Drug-related cases soar in Ghana

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com)

Nine thousand nine hundred and twenty four (9,924) drug-related cases were recorded from 2010 to mid-year 2013, the Chairman of Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) Governing Board, Captain Baffour Assasie-Gyimah (Rtd), has disclosed.

Capt. Assasie-Gyimah

These figures were recorded from four hospitals and he noted that the highest figures were recorded in 2012, at three thousand seven hundred and eighty-two (3,782).

Out of this, three thousand six hundred and ninety three (3,693) were male, whereas eighty nine (89) were female, representing 98% and 2% respectively.

He made this shocking revelation on Thursday, during the World Drug Day Celebration, themed: “A message of hope: Drug use disorders are preventable and treatable.”

Measures

Capt. Gyimah (Rtd) noted that NACOB, in partnership with international agencies, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), World Customs Organisation (WCO) and Interpol established the Joint Port Control Unit (JPCU) - a container control programme aimed at assisting Ghana to establish “effective container controls that will serve to prevent drug trafficking.”

Also, with funding from the European Union (EU) and the government of Canada, a project aimed at establishing effective communication and exchange of intelligence among law enforcement agencies and airport operation with seven (7) airports in West Africa and Brazil, to crack down these traffickers known as the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), had been recently launched.

 “We have done so much with supply suppression efforts”, said Capt. Gyima (Rtd), assuring that their partners at the National crime Agency of the United Kingdom, the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice, the French government and a host of others had offered NACOB assistance and promise to continue with their support to the drug enforcement agency to prosecute its agenda of cracking down the drug trafficking syndrome.

“All these maritime projects have so far achieved a lot in thwarting sea-borne drug operations,” he declared.

Lifeline to addicts

NACOB, he revealed, would help drug addicts to abdicate their current predicament by offering them counsel. The Institution he said would roll-out various demand reduction programmes aimed at highlighting the harmful effects of drug use.

“Our Programmes offer a lifeline to those who are already abusing drugs as well as those who intend to abuse illicit drugs.

“We in NACOB know very well that drug addiction is a disease and not necessarily a crime. Addiction is a medical problem that requires medical attention and not legal prosecution for prison confinement. Addicts need our sympathy and not our condemnation,” he emphasized.