Students increasingly linked to drug sales and distribution – NACOC Deputy Director

The Deputy Director of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Alexander Twum-Barima, has raised concerns over the growing involvement of students in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs on tertiary institution campuses across Ghana.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, June 25, 2026, Twum-Barima said recent findings from a nationwide survey conducted by the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment revealed a worrying rise in drug-related activities within universities, nursing training colleges, teacher training colleges and other tertiary institutions.

“I remember we met my brother, Opare-Addo (Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment), and he was giving us a research or a survey that they had conducted. I can say without fear that the presence of drugs in our tertiary institutions, what I mean by tertiary, is the likes of the Nursing Training Schools, Teacher Training Schools, the Universities, among others, is getting so high,” he said.

According to him, investigations have shown that students are not only consuming drugs but are increasingly playing active roles in their distribution.

“One would have thought that it is outsiders who are bringing it in, but from what we have just arrested some few days ago, the Central University students, it is clear that the students are becoming the vendors or the ones who are leading the sales of these things in the schools,” he added.

Twum-Barima described the trend as alarming, noting that the growing presence of drugs in educational institutions poses serious risks to student welfare, academic performance and campus security.

He called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, educational authorities, parents and other stakeholders to address the challenge through coordinated interventions.

The NACOC official also stressed the importance of balancing enforcement efforts with rehabilitation programmes, saying young people struggling with drug dependency should be supported to recover and reintegrate into society rather than being treated solely as offenders.