[ 2016-05-11 ]

Ghana Police wants 'wee' legalised
The Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Police
has called for decriminalisation of cannabis,
popularly referred to as 'Wee', to help in fight
against the abuse of the narcotic drug in the
country.

The Head of the Unit, David Selom Hukportie told
TV3 “we also need to look at decriminalisation
and here, I want to reiterate what Mr. Akrasi
Sarpong said.
“Many people misunderstood him but when you
look at the situation and you want law enforcement
to tackle it without the criminal justice coming
in to help it, it will be a problem.”

The Unit has between January and February this
year recorded 32 cases with Ashanti Region leading
the chart with 28 cases.

In the Regional Drug Auditing table available at
the Unit, cannabis has been leading the chart for
the past three years.

In 2014, 188 cases were recorded across the
country. The figure increased to 298 in 2015 with
Ashanti Region leading with 143 cases.

Most of the discussions in the public have all
been based on moral justification and exaggeration
of the effects of the marijuana with scientific
evidence thrown out of the window.

A security expert, Emmanuel Kotin, the debate
should be looked at beyond morals and effects.

He indicated that “the drug issue has moved
away from being a problem to being a real security
issue. We seem to neglect the spillover of this
drug issues on our human capital, our social
infrastructure and our productive national
asset.”

In an effort to solve the myriad of challenges
confronting the state in battling the fight, a
lecturer at the department of Sociology School at
the University of Ghana Dr.Samson Obed Appiah,
said the issue should be tackled at the community
level.

He was of the view that “the locals in these
communities should be looked at firstly from the
point that they are involved in the production
indirectly or encourage the production of the
substance.

“This is also because young people get money
and support the local economy so whether you like
it or not it is a source of income for them so it
would be difficult for the other persons in these
communities to give out or report those involved
in the growing, production or sale of the
cannabis.”

He therefore calls on the law enforcement
agencies to engage the traditional authorities in
the fight to make it successful.

Source - tv3network.com|

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