allAfrica.com: Ghana: Drug Abuse - Still a Societal Problem (Page 1 of 2)

It is the dream and desire of everyone to be healthy and strong in order to have a longer life. Due to certain uncertainties in life some people turn to act against this dream, of being healthy and staying long on this earth. For most people whenever they seem so dejected that no one is willing to be a good listener to their problems, they turn to solve issues on their on.

Whenever they feel that the problem they have cannot be solved, they decide and wish to forget. In order for people to forget their pain and sorrow, apart from them getting themselves drunk always, they turn to drugs. It is often said that drugs help one to forget about his or her problem. Though people turn on drugs to help them forget their pains society and religion are against it.

What is drug abuse?

Drug abuse is the misuse of drugs i.e. illegal or excessive use of prescribed drugs. Drug abuse does not necessarily mean dealing in narcotic drugs, but also certain medically prescribed drugs. Patients not taking their drugs, according to the doctor's instructions fall under drug abuse. Some of the most commonly abused prescribed drugs include amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, methaqualone etc.

In Ghana and certain parts of Africa marijuana, also known as Indian hemp, is the most commonly used illegal drug. It is cultivated on farms located in places not easily accessible, making it difficult for the law to locate them.

Marijuana is normally folded in paper and smoked. Most Indian hemp users are the youth with some being as young as 15 years.

It is estimated that 4.7% of the global population, aged 15 to 64, or 185 million people, consume illicit drugs annually.

According to MedicalNet.com, "addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the individual that is addicted and to those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain.

"Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time send intense impulses to take drugs. It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is addicted to stop abusing drugs."

Why are drugs abused?

Frustration in the lives of people compels them to take to drugs thinking it would help them forget their problems. A lot of people, living in extreme poverty, turn to drugs due to the pain, humiliation and misery surrounding their poverty. People therefore turn to seek refuge in drugs, especially in times of emotional difficulties.

Whereas people take drugs to escape frustrations, others take it to release stress and fatigue. For some people drug abuse is not intentional. Many students, especially those in the Senior High Schools, are influenced into taking drugs by their peers. They are made to believe that the taking of drugs, especially marijuana, increases one's capacity to learn. Students with this notion turn to smoke marijuana leading to their addiction.

It is very pathetic to know that people abuse drugs thinking that they are having fun. Stars and celebrities more often due to fortunes attained, end up on drugs. Their involvement in drugs makes them think they are strong, masculine and brave. Their engagement in drugs, in the long run, makes them violent and a nuisance to society.

Some minors, especially street-children, are forced into drugs by drug dealers, and since these children have nowhere or nobody to turn to are forced by drug peddlers to sell drugs and traffic in them. They sometimes end up in jail, or are killed by drug gangsters when they try to expose them.

Nations and drugs

According to the law in the UK, when one is charged with drug possession, one is sentenced to about 14 years in jail. Despite the existence of legislations to combat drug abuse in many countries, in some countries like Jamaica, the smoking of marijuana is considered a tradition by some people.

Advocates of decriminalization argue that drug prohibition makes drug dealing a lucrative business. Even in the United States, where many of the citizens have a good standard of living, the number of non-violent drug offenders in prison, exceeds 100,000, which is the total number of the incarcerated population in the EU, despite the fact that the EU has 100 million more citizens. Attempts by government-sponsored drug control policies to arrest drug supply and eliminate drug abuse have been largely unsuccessful.

Recently in Ghana two minors were arrested and charged for attempting to illegally export cocaine, and were sentenced to a year each in prison.

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