Drugs users need help, not prison – WACD

The West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) has said “drugs users need help – not prison”.

WACD said; “discussions with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana and law enforcement agencies confirmed a regional reality that many drug users and small traffickers end up in jail with harsh sentences while the “big fish” often escape arrest and prosecution”.

Former President Olusegun Obansanjo of Nigeria and Chairman of WACD, who said this at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, said consultations with the Ghanaian Financial Intelligence Centre indicated that while Ghana has put in place appropriate institutional and regulatory framework, there is still a great concern that drug money is being laundered.

The WACD delegation to Ghana led by Mr Justice Bankole Thompson of Sierra Leone, met representatives of the civil society, the international community and health experts to discuss the impact of drug trafficking and consumption on governance, security and public health in Ghana and West Africa.

The Commission visited a rehabilitation centre run by a faith-based non-governmental organization, as well as the neighbourhood of Tudu in the Central Business District of Acrra, where there is a high concentration of drug users.

Dr Iddrissa Ba, Commissioner from Senegal said: “There is very little good drug treatment available in the region; drug addicts are still being locked up because our societies do not know how to treat them, drug use is a public health issue that has to be addressed as such”.

Former President Obasanjo said following the Ghana visit, the West African Commission held its second plenary meeting where regional partners, including the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa briefed the Commission on the growing problems posed by trafficking and the growing consumption of illicit drugs in West Africa.

The WACD Chairman said, to fight the transnational crime, transnational cooperation is needed, and ECOWAS, for example, is trying to harmonize drug laws in the region.

He said policies have been adopted at regional, sub-regional and national levels, but this has not yet led to effective action to deal with the trafficking, consumption and money laundering because of the inadequate political commitment and weak judicial systems.

He said the visit to Ghana and the Commission’s second meeting in Accra was part of preparatory work of the WACD leading up to its final report, due in early 2014.

The Chairman said up to 80 tonnes of cocaine are estimated to transit through West Africa annually, with a wholesale value of close to $2 billion, representing some 25 per cent of the European cocaine market.

He said West Africans consume about one-third of the drugs that come through the region and there are an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million drug users in West Africa.

He said WACD will publish an authoritative report on the impact of drug trafficking and consumption on governance, security and public health in West Africa in January 2014, which will include recommendations for action by West African states, as well as the producer and consumer countries and regional and international organizations.

Other Commissioners at the press conference include Miss Oumou Sangare of Mali and Mr Allan Doss of the United Kingdom.