By Edna Alorwordor Aseye (UniMac-IJ)
Drug abuse has been on the increase among the youth these days. Welcome to a part of the Greater Accra Region called Tudu where most of these drug addicts live and do drugs freely. They have become so addicted that they do not look any good and are weak due to the fact that they hardly eat but just live on drugs. Young girls and boys of approximated ages between 12- 35 years engage in this act and don’t have any jobs of their own to feed on. They do drugs like marijuana, cocaine etc. They tend to pickpocket people who come into the market to purchase or sell as a source of livelihood while others stand at bus stops and load cars for money.
The female ones end up into prostitution and other immoral acts. They end up sleeping on the streets as they have no homes to go to. After a few conversation with some of them, it was said by one of them that they hardly eat not because they don’t have what to eat but because they have been doing drugs for a long time, they get so addicted and don’t have appetite for food at all. Another also said when he was asked if the police don’t worry them that, they have become so close with most of the police people so they don’t even do anything to them and sometimes the police are afraid to come into their yards because of their numbers. Most of the police personnel are scared of getting injured with any fight with drug addicts so they rather choose to allow them to do whatever they like.
Speaking to Survivor, one of the victims, he said, “I make 400 Ghana Cedis or more from shadowing cars a day but I can’t use it for anything beneficial or to buy food than to do drugs with it”. He further said some of them in the yard, have responsible parents but due to adolescent curiosity and peer pressure, they end up trying the drugs and find it very difficult to quit when they want to.
“Some parent even come and kneel crying and beg their kids to allow them take them home for proper care or to the rehab but they end up running back to the ghetto after some few days”, he said. The government needs to build more rehab facilities and put all these people in them for special treatments, at least the increase in social vices among them will be calmed.
