Mad Rush For Tramadol In Offinso

District Chief Executive (DCE) for Offinso North in the Ashanti Region, David Akwasi Boakye Asare, has bemoaned the use of Tramadol by the youth within the district.

He was speaking to DAILY GUIDE in his office when a survey conducted by ATV indicates that the district leads in the use of the drug in the Ashanti Region.

In recent times, the drug has become so popular that everywhere one goes in Ghana, it is patronised by the youth.

According to the survey, teenage boys in particular use the drug to enhance their sexual capability.

The US Food & Drug Administration is restricting the use of the drug by recommending against the use of codeine and Tramadol by breastfeeding mothers due to possible harm to their infants.

The British Home Office ministers were also proposing to ban from public sale of Tramadol , that has been linked to 154 deaths in 2011 through its non-medical use.

Tramadol, which is a synthetic opioid similar to codeine, is used in the treatment of moderate to severe pain, and is available online and easily obtainable without a prescription, subjecting it to abuse.

Mr Boakye Asare appealed to parents to advise their children to desist from the use of the drug since it is destroying a greater number of them.  Information reaching the DCE also indicates that instead of the youth going out to look for jobs, they prefer taking the drug in excess, which makes them lazy.

According to him, what is most disturbing is the involvement of students in the use of the drug, adding that this has created a situation where insubordination is on the increase on campuses.

He stated that due to the gravity of the problem, he has visited the Wiafe Akenteng Presbyterian Senior High School to talk to the students about the danger of the drug, assuring that he would visit other schools within the district to sound stern warnings to other students as well.

Mr Boakye Asare also revealed that he has been informed that drivers and their conductors also take the drug and that to him, “is very dangerous because it can cause accidents on our roads”.

In his view, the introduction of the 'planting for food and jobs' programme rolled out by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture is an opportunity for the teeming youth to get involved in farming  to help better their lives.

Meanwhile, the DCE has charged the Ghana Police Service (GPS) within the Offinso North District to be on the look-out for dealers of the drug and bring them to book.

FROM Eric Bawah, Offinso