A well known member of the opposition National Democratic Congress in the Ashanti region, Mr. Abdul Rasheed has called on the Ghana Police Service as well as the Food and Drugs Authority to as soon as possible arrest sellers of a snuff called in the local dialect as ‘Ekikime’.
In an interview with the press, he charged the authorities to be proactive and deal with the perpetrators of the harmful snuff.
“Let me tell you, there is this dangerous drug (snuff) called Ekikime is very dangerous drug and can kill, I will plead with the FDA and GPS to take swift action to arrest the sellers”, he stated.
Moreover, he urged parents and guidance to ensure their wards stay away from such drugs, believing can lead to madness.
“The drug is not different from marijuana or cocaine, it’s very dangerous and can lead to madness, I will crave the indulgence of parents and guidance to ensure their wards refrain from using it”, he concluded.
There is now growing recognition that the drugs trade has had a far more significant domestic socio-political impact on the region than was first believed.
Although drug use is believed to be endemic across Ghana’s social demographic range, it is most visible among the country’s lower socio-economic groups.
Drug use is also believed to be significantly more common among men than women, but this could be attributed to significant under-reporting by female PWUD, who face greater social stigma for drug use.
Although female users experience the brunt of public criticism, condemnation of drug use is widespread; it is often spoken about using the language of religion and perceived to be unholy or the result of moral failure.
Adding to this is the widespread belief that drug use is intrinsically linked to mental illness, and that it is therefore incurable, even when it is represented as a public-health issue.
Although societal attitudes towards drug use appear to be static, with PWUD invariably shunned, this could be due to the lack of education on the issue of substance abuse.
