Chemical Sellers Unhappy
THE WESTERN Regional branch of the Ghana National Chemical Sellers Association is up-in-arms against unlicensed drug peddlers who have no knowledge about drug dispensary but go round selling drugs to unsuspecting consumers.
The association alleged that these unregistered and unauthorized drug peddlers usually purchased the drugs in large quantities from some pharmaceutical companies which do not check the background of the peddlers before selling the drugs to them.
They said apart from endangering the health of members of the public, the unlicensed drug dispensers also evade taxes, resulting in loss of revenue to the Government.
Mr. Osei Boamah, chairman of the regional branch of the association made this known at a press conference the association organized in Takoradi last Friday.
He blamed the emergence of unregistered chemical sellers partly on the weak enforcement of the Pharmacy Act and the absence of strong monitoring mechanisms by the regulatory bodies.
“The problems being created by these charlatans are bringing the name of chemical sellers in the region into disrepute and had created negative public perception about chemical sellers which has also led to loss of our customers,” Mr. Boamah noted.
He called on the Pharmacy Council, Food and Drugs Board, the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the District Assemblies to join hands in the fight against drug peddling, which he claimed was becoming rampant in the region.
Mr. Kofi Obeng-Mensah, Western Regional Manager of the Ghana Pharmacy Council, noted that since the staff strength of the Council in the region was not adequate, all licensed chemical sellers should collaborate to fight the menace by reporting unauthorized drug peddlers to his office or the law enforcement agencies.
The region, he said, had only 1,554 licensed chemical shops and 55 pharmacies.
Supt. Dennis Abade, Western Regional Crime Officer, indicated that his outfit was seriously taking steps to clamp down on unlicensed drug peddlers, and asked members of the association to report such unscrupulous characters to the Police.
He mentioned that the police had made a number of arrests, adding, “there is the need for public, association and police collaboration to rid society of the charlatans”.
From Mark Essien & Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi