Dormaa Municipal Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has commenced an anti-hard drug use campaign targeted at students of Senior High Schools in the area.
The programme, which delved into the causes, types, effects and the drug situation in second-cycle institutions as at the end of 2010 was expected to cover students in Dormaa SHS, Dormaa Vocational Training Institute (DUTI), Dormaa-Ahenkro Christ Apostolic SHS, Aboabo Salvation Army SHS and Nkrankwanta SHS.
Addressing students of Dormaa SHS at Dormaa-Ahenkro, the Municipal NCCE Director, Mr. Amankwa Boateng noted that narcotics in any form was not healthy for any student who wanted to stay fit and take his or her course seriously.
He stated that apart from their negative impact on the brain, drugs also constituted the basis of violence; rape, armed robbery and in some cases the emergence of cult groups among students.
Mr. Boateng announced that more of the nation’s youth were caught up in the abuse of drugs spiral and the Narcotic Control Board’s 2010 annual report had put the number of drug related cases at the nation’s four Psychiatric hospitals at 2,216 comprising 2,086 males and 130 females.
The Municipal Director also indicated that 616 of the cases were employed, 1,062 unemployed and 538 students.
He urged students to stay away from drugs and dedicate their precious time to their books to ensure that they made the best out of the huge investments made in their education by government and parents.
During question time, some of the students appealed to school authorities to institute mechanisms for easy detection of drug users in school.