Tepa (Ash), Aug. 25, GNA - Dr. Isaac Akuamoa-Boateng, Senior Medical Officer at the Tepa District Hospital, has decried the increasing spate of Indian hemp smoking among some students in the Ahafo-Ano North District.

He said the development could hamper the investment being made in the education of those students if drastic measures were not instituted to reverse the trend.

Dr. Akuamoa-Boateng said these when he delivered a talk on the effects of drug abuse to climax the Health Week Celebration of the Tepa Presbyterian Church in the Ahafo-Ano North District on Friday. He cautioned students in the district to be wary of peer pressure, which on numerous occasions compel them to engage in substance abuse with their attendant consequences. The Medical Practitioner indicated, for instance that, majority of the ailments that afflicted students who were brought to the hospital for treatment were hard drug related.

Dr Akuamoa-Boateng said students should at all times strive to be law-abiding and also take their studies seriously to justify the investment being made in them. He said a total of 42 HIV/AIDS cases were recorded during the first half of this year as compared to 22 recorded within the same period last year in the district.