Cocaine bust: We also have to look at internal consumption too – Kwasi Kwarteng
by Miss Naa · MyNewsGh.comA member of the New Patriotic Party’s communications team, Kwasi Kwarteng Ghana’s drug debate should not focus only on cocaine and other consignments being intercepted abroad, because drug consumption within the country is also a serious part of the problem.
“Our position is very clear,” Mr Kwarteng said, while arguing that the government should be judged against the measures it promised before taking office.
But he said another part of the discussion was often overlooked.
“There is also a component that we fail to discuss when most of the time we are having this conversation. That has to do with the internal consumption,” he said.
Kwarteng said public attention often centres on cocaine shipments destined for countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Australia, while less attention is paid to drugs being consumed within Ghana.
“It’s also, sometimes we look at, oh, drug is going to the UK, drug is going to France, drug is going to Australia, but the internal consumption is also a discussion that maybe as we have this conversation, also look at it,” he said.
He specifically mentioned the growing abuse of Tramadol and other drugs.
He said the misuse of such substances could have consequences beyond drug dependence, including behaviour that may contribute to other forms of crime.
“Especially with the advent of Tramadol and those other drugs that is also being abused,” he said.
“You know, sometimes you give these guys some sense of false courage and they are able to engage in other illicit crimes that at the end of the day,” he added.
Speaking on KeyPoint on TV3, Kwarteng said the domestic side of the drug problem should therefore form part of the country’s response alongside efforts to intercept international shipments.
He said Ghana’s drug policy should not be judged only by the quantity of cocaine, methamphetamine or other substances seized at ports and airports.
Instead, he argued that authorities should also examine the availability and consumption of drugs within communities and the consequences for young people and public safety.
Host Alfred Ocansey’s interventions during the discussion focused on the arrests being made in connection with major drug consignments and whether those arrests showed that investigations were already reaching people involved in the system.
Kwarteng maintained that arrests were necessary but said the broader drug problem required investigators to go further.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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