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Investigations conducted by Today coupled with statistics from the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) have revealed that about fifty thousand (50, 000) people in Ghana, particularly the youth are in drug abuse. Today gathered that although the country�s laws criminalize marijuana (wee) and narcotic substance, the practice of drugs like marijuana and cocaine by the youth particularly in the Junior/ Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions is on ascendency. It is estimated that these drug users can be found in the 275 administrative districts in all the ten (10) regions of Ghana. Meanwhile, Today�s findings showed that out of the total number of 50,000 drug users in Ghana, 35,000 were students from junior/senior high schools and tertiary institution aged between 12 and 35 years while the remaining 15, 000 were adults with 9, 000 being males and 6,000 females. Interestingly, Today�s further findings indicated that out of the total number of 50,000 persons who were actively using drugs in Ghana, the three northern regions were in the lead with a total figure of 30,000, followed by Western region, 4, 000, Brong- Ahafo region, 2, 000; Greater Accra region, 5,000; Ashanti region, 4,000; Eastern region, 2,000; Volta region, 1,300 and Central region, 1,700. The use of marijuana in Ghana has become one of the main causes of mental illness among the youth and adult today as some end up in psychiatric hospitals while others find themselves on the streets and in prayer camps. Today�s research from fifteen (15) psychiatric hospitals in Ghana has shown that about 70 per cent of inmates in those hospitals were youth from junior high schools and tertiary institution. According to Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a non-governmental organization, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted among Junior High Schools in 2009 in Ghana showed that 12.8 per cent of students aged 13 to 15 years currently used any tobacco product. Those who did not die from tobacco-related diseases, VALD noted suffered from several debilitating diseases, including cancer, heart and lung cancer. According to VALD�s research, the most abused substance in Ghana was marijuana (Indian hemp or wee) and it is also the cheapest drug. It is sold at 50 pesewas per a roll making it affordable. The use of heroin and cocaine, VALD�s survey noted was not very popular among substance abusers in Ghana, due to their high cost. The 2007 World Drug Report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also showed that 21.5% of Ghanaians, aged from 15 to 64, smoked marijuana or used another cannabis product. The report continued that Ghanaians used marijuana more than five times the world average, thereby making Ghana the leader of African countries and third in the world in cannabis or marijuana. The report further indicated that Ghana ranked third in the world on marijuana use, behind Papua New Guinea and Micronesia with 29 per cent each. Speaking on Breakfast Show on Ghana Television in Accra recently on: �Ratification of drugs use in Ghana,� the Head of Educational Unit of NACOB, Mr. Jeremiah Joe Ghartey noted that though the act was unlawful, the Board needed information so as to target the youth for education on danger of using harmful drugs. Mr. Joe Ghartey intimated that NACOB would continue to partner (NGOs), corporate institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) that focus on drug users by educating them on preventive strategies to ensure that they shun away from drugs. Earlier at a sensitization programe organized by Five Star-Bil, a printing and advertisement company for students from the various Senior High Schools (SHSs), the Ashanti Regional Commander of the Narcotic Control Board, Ben Dadzie urged the youth to desist from drugs. He pointed out that research in various psychiatric hospitals has shown that about 70% of inmates in those hospitals were youth between the ages of 18 to 35 years. He, therefore, underscored the need for every individual to get involved in the fight against drug abuse, which he said was endangering the future of the country. Mr. Dadzie stressed the need to educate the youth on the consequences and the danger in the use of drugs at the youthful stage to help eliminate or reduce the menace. According to him, drugs dealers always target the youth stressing that drug abuse is strictly a social problem, as parents, teens, older adults and other members of the community tend to characterize drug users as morally weak or having criminal tendencies. These myths, he said, have stereotyped not only those with drug and other substance use disorders, but their families, communities and the health care professionals who work with them. For his part, a lecturer at the Department of Psychiatric at the School of Medicine of University of Ghana, Legon, stressed the need for a strong collaboration among the Narcotic Board, Education Directorate and stakeholders to fight drug abuse among the youth. He pointed out that the core mandate as stakeholders was to help ensure a positive change in the youth to become responsible leaders of the country in future. The Greater Accra Regional Director of NACOB, Ms. Victoria Esinam Assah-Offei dispelled the notion that marijuana (wee) was a depressant and improved retentive memory. Such falsehoods, she asserted, were retrogression gains being made on public education about the use of drugs. She therefore urged school children and younger people to reject drugs and report people who offered it to them.