"Wee" farming on the increase- officer

Many farmers in Brong Ahafo Region consider the cultivation of Indian Hemp (marijuana) more lucrative than maize.

Mr. Amadu Salifu, Brong Ahafo Police Crime Officer, who made the assertion on Friday said many farmers had thus continued with the "business," despite its illegality.

He was speaking at the launch of the regional education campaign on drug abuse for the youth in Sunyani.

The programme, organised jointly by the Regional Health Administration and the World Health Organisation (WHO), was under the theme, ''youth against drugs - I am drugs free''.

It was attended by students from the Sunyani Polytechnic and selected secondary schools in the region. The Crime Officer emphasised that though the problem of smoking of Indian Hemp in the region was serious, its cultivation was worse.

In a speech read for him, Dr. Melville George, WHO representative in Ghana noted that the complexities and scope of the drug problem required an equally complex and integrated solution.

The problem is pervasive, which cuts across geographical and cultural boundaries, hence, it is essential to involve communities and Primary Health care systems in the policies for prevention, care and rehabilitation, he said. Dr. George urged communities to be prepared and equipped to treat and care for victims of the menace.