Look Again

Substance abuse has been talked about for many years in Ghana, but most often the campaign focus on just a particular drug and we lose sight of the bigger picture. It started with campaigns against alcohol, then marijuana and the focus has now shifted to Tramadol and other prescription drugs.
 Statistics by the narcotic control board reveals that 70% of the youth in Junior and Senior high schools are at a high risk of drug abuse. 70% of inmates in psychiatric hospitals are between  the ages of  18 and 35, thus the youth.
However most people are of the view that substance abuse  is  rather declining and it is only Tramadol  and other prescription drugs that poses a threat, but do people just wake up and decide to try hard drugs?
We have ignored the child who has started taking coffee each night in order to stay awake and learn for his examination and also the worker who is taking paracetamol each day to relieve him of his pain. " Addiction isn't about substance, you are addicted to the alteration of the mood that the substance brings."- Susan Cheever. Most people start taking certain substances and after some time  they get hooked on it, but it gets to a point in  time, they do not get the satisfaction  that they desire, they  therefore sort to more dangerous drugs. This is the cycle that we must break if we want to end substance abuse.
They say "a stitch in time saves nine." let us solve this problem at its early stage and prevent it from getting out of hand. The issue of substance abuse has not been resolved. Let us all come together and end it.