FDA, REGSEC Get Tough On Tramadol

Simon Osei Mensah

Quantities of tramadol have been seized in the Kumasi metropolis.

It was made possible following an effective collaboration between the Food & Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC).

The development is among series of strategies being adopted by the FDA and the Ashanti REGSEC to help reduce the devastating effects of tramadol on its users, mostly the youth.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, made the announcement during the official opening of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council meeting in Kumasi.

“In curtailing the abuse of tramadol in the region, the Food and Drugs Authority, with the support from REGSEC, embarked on an exercise in the metropolis and seized tramadol from unlicensed pharmacy shops. This action was taken to cut the supply of tramadol, which is gradually destroying the youth,” Mr Osei Mensah said on Thursday morning.

He revealed that information available to the FDA and REGSEC indicates that some people are selling tramadol in order to become rich overnight.

Describing the confiscation of the substance as very timely, he also stated that REGSEC is determined “to reduce the abuse of drugs and enforce law and order in the region, REGSEC increased the activities of joint military/police patrols in the region.”

Again, he said REGSEC has also instituted periodic swoops in flashpoints to reduce crime rate to the barest minimum.