[ 2016-06-24 ]

Don’t jail drug addicts - Chief psychiatrist
The call for a relaxation of drug laws to allow
for medicinal and recreational use of cannabis
seems to be gaining momentum.

The Executive Director of the Mental Health
Authority, Dr Akwasi Osei, however, says it is
only reasonable to decriminalise aspects of the
law to enable drug addicts to seek appropriate
treatment instead of being sent to jail.

That, he said, would help people who are drug
addicts to receive the necessary treatment and
counselling to help them get back their lives.

Speaking to The Mirror in Accra ahead of the
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking, which falls on Sunday, June 26, 2016,
Dr Osei noted that total decriminalisation of
cannabis would give a blanket visa for people to
abuse it.

The International Day Against Drug Abuse and
Illicit Trafficking is a day set aside by the
United Nations to campaign against drug abuse and
illegal drug trade and is observed annually on
June 26.

Grievous mistake

Dr Osei, who is also the Chief Psychiatrist in
charge of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, said the
country will be making a grievous mistake if it
decides to totally legalise cannabis.

According to him, about 30 per cent of
out-patient visits to the Accra Psychiatric
Hospital each year is marijuana-related, while
about 10 per cent of admission cases at the
hospital are also marijuana-related.

“This figure is just the tip of the iceberg
because a lot of people refuse to visit the
hospital while others resort to prayer camps and
other spiritual centres for help,” he stated.

Dr Osei does not doubt the medicinal properties
of marijuana but said there were alternative
medications for the marijuana derivatives, so
people cannot say the drug must be used in its raw
form because it had medicinal purposes.

He noted that countries that had legalised
cannabis did so because they had lost the war
against drugs and many of those countries had
begun to record high behavioural problems as a
result.

“It is just like the laws on guns in the US
today. Most Americans have regretted the
legalisation of guns there and are now calling for
a tighter gun control,” he noted.

The Rastafarian Council of Ghana also argues that
the country will reap immense financial benefits
if cannabis is legalised, but Dr Osei notes that
the economic benefits will be eroded by the
dangers associated with the drugs.

“Ghana will spend more money than it will get
from drugs. Medical hardship and social hardship
such as violence and robbery will far outweigh any
economic benefit,” he explained.

Dr Osei rather called on the government to
adequately resource NACOB and tighten the laws on
drugs to include confiscation of all properties of
persons who are convicted on drug-related charges.


Calls

Several individuals and bodies have in recent
times called for the decriminalisation of
cannabis, with the latest being the West Africa
Drug Policy Network, an international drug policy
consortium.

The former Secretary General of the United
Nations (UN), Mr Kofi Annan, is also said to have
urged governments in West Africa to decriminalise
narcotic drugs to avoid wasting scarce resources
in fighting a war that cannot be won.

Last March, the Executive Secretary of the
Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Yaw Akrasi
Sarpong, called for a national debate on the use
of marijuana in the country.

The Head of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the
Ghana Police, Mr David Selom Hukportie, has also
called for the decriminalisation of cannabis,
popularly referred to as 'Wee', to help in the
fight against the abuse of the drug in the
country.

The Rastafarian Council have also for some time
now called for Ghana to decriminalise cannabis.

The group argues among other things that
marijuana has been well-established and
successfully used for relieving some ailments.
These include pain, controlling nausea,
stimulating appetite and relieving the symptoms of
HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis,
PTSD and other ailments.

Source - Daily Graphic

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