It was never his wish to get into the smoking of weed, or even drop out of school at such an early stage of life, but like they say, life happened to him.

James Amoah, a young energetic shoe seller, who appeared on GhanaWeb TV’s Everyday People, shared his story of how at the age of 12, he became a weed smoker and dropped out of school while he was in class six, all because of financial difficulties.

Amoah, who hails from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, told GhanaWeb's Victoria Kyei Baffour that he was in school until he got to class six when his mother could no longer afford to pay his school fees.

This resulted in him forcibly dropping out of school.

“I am from Kumasi. That was where I was attending school. I was attending Better Future. When I got to class six, my mother said she was having financial difficulties," he said.

Asked about his father’s whereabouts, James said “My father was also around; he was strict on me but he was a carpenter and it was always not rosy for him as well, although he didn’t live with us; he was staying at Bantama. I used to visit him a lot.

"It was through that, that I became stubborn and started smoking the weed," he added.

Although he's all grown up now, James says he still smokes weed.

He also said he is the only person in his family who has travelled away from home to hustle and make ends meet.

Watch the full interview here: