Government has moved to address the scourge in drug abuse, particularly among young people in the country.
It has thus inaugurated a 10-member committee to examine the problem of the intake of illicit drugs among the youth, and submit proposals to combat the menace.
The committee is made up of members including the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority, Ms Delese Darko, Chief Economics Officer of the Finance Ministry, Mrs Gladys Ghartey, Director, Statistics, Research and Information Management of the Ministry of Education, Mr Divine Ayidzoe and Director of Administration, Ministry of the Interior, Mr Kwesi Assan-Brew.
Others are Director, Legal of the Ministry of National Security, Mr Decardi Nelson, Director, Children Affairs of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Florence Ayisi-Quartey, Acting Assistant Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ms Phyllis Sakyi-Djan and Director of Research, Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Rev. Frank Lartey.
Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director of Child Rights International and two others representatives of the Christian and Islamic Communities under the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs are also part of the committee.
At a brief inaugural ceremony in Accra yesterday, Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, indicated that the committee was primarily to target second cycle institutions across the country to find remedy to the canker.
“The committee is being established in line with the objective of the president to halt intake and abuse of illicit drugs by the youth, particularly those in the senior high schools.
“The committee is therefore tasked to examine the problem of the intake and abuse of such illicit drugs by the youth, and to submit proposals for combating the drug menace,” he pointed out.
Recognising the dire consequences of drug abuse on young people from leading to signs of physical deterioration to absenteeism, poor academic performance and self-exclusion, the minister challenged committee members to bring to bare their “vast expertise and knowledge to deal with this canker”.
“I expect all members to be innovative and creative to enable the committee achieve its objectives to identify the sources and causes of drugs in schools, and recommend to the president proposals to be discussed with key stakeholders on the ways to combat the drug menace in schools across the country,” he charged.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, Mr Bright Appiah, pledged the commitment of members to apply themselves diligently to the task given to help save the youth.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
