THE MENACE OF DRUG TRAFFICKING

Their reckoning, politicians blow a lot of hot air and especially during an
election year, are bound to oOverdo things in their bid to sway the opinions
of voters in their favour. Such zealousness in the political arena is
nothing new and because elections are time bombs, the moment results are
known, the temperature comes down and life continues its mundane meandering.

EVEN THOUGH some Ghanaians perceive the utterances of some politicians as
highly dangerous and capable of compromising the security of this country,
such a scenario has been rubbished by others as unduly alarmist.

All this, however, pre-supposes that elections are held in a free and fair
manner with all stakeholders getting an equal opportunity to prosecute their
political agenda on a level playing field. So far, Ghana's Electoral
Commission seems to have ensured these, hence the reason why some believe
there is no real threat to our national security, from the effusions of some
political pundits.

Indeed, according to the African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR)
group, the more dangerous and destabilizing element in our country is the
mounting threat of drug addiction and the unchecked trade in narcotic drugs
within and outside the country.

The ASDR says that with Ghana and other West African countries now serving
as staging grounds for the trans-shipment of narcotic drugs to Europe and
America from the production centers in South America and South East Asia,
the activities of the drug barons pose the greatest threat to the security
of the sub-region and its individual countries.

Not too long ago, huge quantities of cocaine were intercepted here. With a
street value estimated over $140 million, the illicit drug was on its way to
the West. About a month ago, a ship was also intercepted off Ghanaians
waters and taken to Togo where it emerged that over 20,000 kilograms of
cocaine was aboard, meant for the European market.

The Chronicle is in agreement with the ASDR that the spreading abuse of
narcotic drugs within Ghana really does pose the greatest threat to our
security. From Aflao to Zuarungu, the use of narcotic drugs like cocaine,
heroin and marijuana has spread like wild fire and if things are allowed to
continue this way, the menace of drug abuse will nullify all the good work
that has so far been done towards creating conditions for the proper
take-off of the Ghanaian economy.

Our human resources base is the most important of all that God has given us
and to see our youth decimated through drug abuse can only be akin to
watching our own self-destruction. Although there are no hard data, from
keen observation and from the little gleaned from the Narcotic Board, the
evidence simply points to an unprecedented spread of illicit drugs.

These days, they are as easily available as many ordinary things are on the
market. Indeed, it has been observed that many mental problems involving the
youth can be traced to drug abuse. Despite the penalty for dealing in drugs
being a draconian 10 years imprisonment, many of our unemployed youth dabble
in the business because of the quick financial gains that come from it.

Unfortunately, the drug business, by its very nature, entails the use of
things like arms and ammunitions - to protect their illicit gains and thus
it causes a ripple effect of illegality. Besides, even though Ghana may be
only a transit point, inevitably, some of the drugs get off-loaded unto the
local market, reinforcing the addiction of its users.

We hope that the Narcotic Board and the Narcotic Squad of the Police Service
are reasonably well-resourced so they can carry on with the job of checking
the drug trade in this country.

We have too much at stake to allow drug-trafficking to destabilize our
nascent democracy.