The Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini has called for collaborative efforts towards the fight against the growing menace of substance and drug abuse among young people in the country.

The MP revealed that a recent survey indicated that 60 percent of Junior High School students were either into the abuse of painkillers, marijuana or tobacco, a situation he emphasised needed immediate intervention.

“It’s a very serious problem in Ghana. Today, drug use is destroying the young ones. In fact, there’s a report I’ve seen that shows that 6 out of 10 JHS students are either using painkillers, drugs or marijuana or tobacco. That is just unacceptable,” he said.

The Tamale North MP noted that the fight against the growing menace of drug and substance abuse needs to start with the shutting down of supply points of illegal drugs in the country while stepping up efforts to offer guidance and counselling sessions for young people on the dangers of drug abuse.

Alhaji Suhuyini told this reporter in an exclusive interview in Tamale that the shutting down of the illegal supply chain of these drugs and substances will be vital in the fight against drug abuse.

He noted, “It is quite disheartening that you have so-called responsible people profiting from this canker that is destroying the future of our youth and so we need to as much as possible give our young ones the needed counselling and the needed guidance away from the use of these drugs and most importantly, we need to also shut down the supply points because these are illegal supply points and they must be shut down at all cost using every legitimate means.”

Already, the king and overlord of Dagbon, Ndan Ya-Na Abukari II has commissioned a task force to clamp down on drug peddlers in the Northern Region, especially in the Tamale Metropolis, the Sagnarigu and Yendi Municipalities where drug usage among young people has reached unprecedented levels.

The task force, made up of volunteer young people in these areas and led by youth chiefs in the region has been working with the police to arrest and prosecute such offenders.

Several quantities of drugs such as the dangerous Rohypnol, a drug which functions as a central nervous system depressant and is illegal in many countries including the United States, tramadol, and codeine among other drugs and substances have also been seized and destroyed by the task force.

At least, five persons have either been convicted or are currently standing trial for various offences after their arrest by the volunteers.

A member of the task force who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity disclosed that most of the drug peddlers arrested were senior health workers working in the various hospitals, especially the Tamale Metropolis.

These peddlers, he added include nurses, midwives and drug store operators, a situation he noted was disappointing, considering that they know the health implications of their illegal businesses on the future of young people.


Some of the drugs seized by the taskforce

“Can you imagine most of these drug dealers we’ve arrested are respectable health workers in the region? You have nurses, midwives and drug store operators engaging in this business. They know the effects these drugs have on our brothers and sisters yet, because of the cheap monies they are making, they don’t just care. This is so disappointing and worrying,” he said.

The Tamale North MP commended the chiefs and people of Dagbon for taking up the initiative and urged other regions to emulate the example set by Dagbon, which he stressed would go a long way to help in controlling drug sales and usage nationwide.