We must face up to this growing menace
Ingenuity is a trait cherished everywhere but when it becomes a destructive attribute, all right-thinking citizens must make an effort to speak and act against it.
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It is acknowledged that times are hard but reports from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region that some people process marijuana or wee into nicely-packaged toffees, biscuits and ‘shito’ targeted at students, all in an effort to make some quick bucks is alarming.
Young people are generally vulnerable to certain vices and that is why they sometimes indulge in some risky ventures without properly assessing the possible consequences. For adult schemers to deliberately help them break the law through the possession and use of illicit drugs is therefore a heart-breaking move.
We definitely believe that trying to make money by destroying young people’s future is very bad and anyone caught doing that must face the full rigours of the law.
Apart from the items being targeted mostly at students, there is also the issue of lacing ‘wee’ with ‘akpeteshie’, which is referred to as ‘lacker’ and sold to the general public in the Ashanti Region.
There is reliable information that in Tema and its environs, the brewed wee is called ‘shasha.’ That gives an unfortunate impression that the consumption of that type of drink is fairly widespread.
A top official of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, not too long ago, said that about 30 per cent of out-patient visits to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital each year was marijuana-related. About 10 per cent of admission cases at the hospital are also marijuana-related.
Though possession and use of certain quantities of wee is legal in some places, our laws still frown on that and our young people, especially, must be made aware of that.
The Mirror is, therefore, glad that the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) of the police in Kumasi has started a sensitisation programme to educate students on the dangers of illicit drug use and the accompanying punishment.
It must be stated here that parents and guardians also have roles to play in getting their children and wards to stay away from drugs. Various kinds of research have indicated that young people usually take drugs because they want to change something about their lives. Many of them, however, end up broken and in deeper problems.
It is up to adults and counsellors to explain to young people that everyone has problems or challenges and that problems are part of life so using drugs to solve a temporary problem is like creating a bigger problem in the long run.
There has been a fair amount of advocacy from certain quarters in this country recently that wee must be legalised, mainly because it purportedly has useful medicinal attributes. We believe the relevant authorities to deal with this kind of matter are aware of the prevailing calls and know which line to toe.
Until the official legal stance about the possession and use of wee is made clear to us all, we will continue to urge the police to apprehend and deal judiciously with all those who are keen to harm young people and unsuspecting members of the general public by processing wee into toffees and biscuits or brewing it into ‘lacker’ and ‘shasha.’