The Western Regional branch of the Ghana National Association of Chemical Sellers (GNACS), the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the Pharmacy Council and the Ghana Police Service, have given their commitment to collaborate effectively in the fight against drug peddling in the region.
The phenomenon, the stakeholder institutions said, was fast assuming alarming proportions in the region, and that collaborative efforts were needed to deal with the situation. They have together, vowed to arrest the uncontrollable practice of drug peddling in the region. The four institutions agreed at a meeting held at Sekondi, to combat drug peddling, and have consequently issued a statement to that effect. The statement was signed by the Regional Secretary of the GNACS, Mr. Yaw Ofosuhene.
According to the stakeholders, the negative effects of drug peddling on the health of the people in the region were very much alarming, yet it was on the quiet, because nobody was interested in tackling the issue. �Drug peddling has been in the system for a long time, and its negative effect on the health of the consumer can only be classified as outrageous,� the stakeholders noted, adding that whilst efforts were being made to control the situation in the region, they were also confronted with logistical constraints.
The stakeholders bemoaned a fact that dug peddlers in the region �after their arrest, go back to the drug peddling, even though they do not have any knowledge on how to handle those drugs.�
Research conducted by the chemical sellers in the past, has shown that many people living in the region were spending millions of cedis annually, on the treatment of complications they either suffer as a result of the use of non-prescribed medications purchased from these drug peddlers, or have ignorantly been consuming what in the near future could complicate their health situation.
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