‘70% of youth engage in drug abuse’

Statistics by the Narcotic Control Board has revealed that about 70% youth from the junior and Senior High Schools are facing the risk of drugs abuse in the country.

At a sensitization programme organized by Five Star-Bil, a printing and advertisement company for students from the various Senior High Schools (SHS) in the region, Mr. Ben Dadzie, Ashanti Regional commander of the Narcotic Control Board, urged them to desist from being drugs addicts to ensure a brighter future.

The theme for the programme was: “Reshaping the future of Ghana.” He indicated that the research in the various psychiatric hospitals has shown that about 70% of inmates in those hospitals are youth between the ages of 18 to 35 years.

He, therefore, suggested the need for every responsible citizen in Ghana to get involve in fighting against drugs abuse, which he said was endangering the future of the country.

Mr. Dadzie stressed the need to educate them to understand the consequences and the danger in the use of drugs at the youthful ages to help eliminate or reduce the menace.

According to him, drugs dealers always target the youth hence Five Star-Bil involvement to reduce the menace.

He said drug use disorders are strictly a social problem, as parents, teens, older adults and other members of the community tend to characterize drug users as morally weak or as having criminal tendencies.

These myths, he said, have stereotyped not only those with drug and other substance use disorders, but their families, their communities and the health care professionals who work with them. He indicated that drug and other substance use result in a public health problem that affects many people and have wide-ranging social consequences.

Mr. Aurelius Osei, the event Director, at the Five Star-Bil, explained that the gesture was part of their social responsibility as an organization saying the students are our future and that the future would be bleak for us as a nation if they are destroyed by drugs.

He stressed the need for collaboration between the Narcotic Board, Education Directorate, all the various SHS in the region and stakeholders to fight drugs abuse among the youth.

He pointed out that the core mandate as stakeholders is to help ensure a positive change in the students to become responsible leaders of the country in the near future.

Ms. Nana Ama Agyemang of Believers Love World also advised the students to be careful about the kind of friends they make in school, and make sure they are in good companies that could encourage them to reach the higher heights.

Ms. Grace Kunadu, Administrator of Five Star-Bil, also expressed her gratitude to the various Headmasters and students who partook in the event, and expressed the hope that with time they will be able to achieve their goal as co-operate organization in changing the face of the students to live decent lives.