By Evans Worlanyo Ameamu
Atsiavi-Atsime (V/R), Oct. 7, GNA – Trogbui Hatsu V of Atsiavi-Glime, has expressed deep concern about the growing abuse of drugs, particularly weed, among young people in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region.
He warned that the habit was robbing the young productive youth of education and future opportunities, which demanded urgent action to safeguard the lives.
Torgbui Hatsu disclosed this during the commissioning and handing over of a three-classroom block with a head teacher’s office at Atsiavi-Atsime in the Keta Municipality.
He charged government and other stakeholders to as a matter of urgency collaborate with traditional authorities to solve the challenges.
“Weed smoking has become what many young people now regard as the new civilisation, everybody is lamenting about how openly the habit is been practised. We are losing our future leaders to drugs,” he said.
Torgbui Hatsu said it was sad to note how the youth now displayed their smoking talents at funerals, parties, naming ceremonies, football parks and even cemeteries, places that were once regarded as sacred or reserved for community bonding.
He said many of the young people had abandoned school because of the habit and would have no future if the trend continued, and expressed worry about low level of education in the area.
“The youths refused to go to school, they are only interested in getting quick money through fraudulent ways. None of the youth involved had been able to secure a job or be taken into the youth employment agencies, because most lacked the education needed for such opportunities.”
He said the new classroom block was expected to improve learning conditions for pupils in the community, and the concerns underlined why access to quality schooling matters in keeping young people away from harmful habits.
He emphasised that cannabis and other harmful drugs remained prohibited in the country under the narcotics laws, and the Narcotics Control Commission regularly warned against its cultivation, sale and use.
Torgbui Hatsu stressed that health professionals have also long cautioned that regular use of the drug could affect concentration, school performance and mental health, particularly among adolescents, and that parents must make sure all school-going-age children attend school for brighter future.
Child welfare and public health advocates often argue that tackling drug abuse among the youth required the combined efforts of parents, teachers, traditional authorities, security agencies and health workers, together with a strong push for school attendance.
Madam Celestine Agudey, a resident of the area who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, said that the concerns of Torgbui Hatsu added to a wider call for communities to pay closer attention to the behaviour of their young people and to support those struggling with substance abuse to seek help.
She further called on law enforcement agencies to begin regular routine exercises in the various communities and arrest such drug addicts to avoid corrupting other innocent ones.
The residents said the classroom facility which was commissioned by the Member of Parliament for Keta, Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, and the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Wisdom Seade, in the presence of other stakeholders should impact positively on the communities as well as the children.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo