Pharmacies In Ashaiman Selling Dangerous Drugs To Addicts …As World Drugs Day on Sunday

As Ghana joins the world to mark World Drug Day on Sunday, June 26, 2022, The Anchor has established that some unscrupulous pharmaceutical shops in the capital, particularly in the Ashaiman municipality and Maamobi, have been selling dangerous drugs, especially pethidine, to vulnerable users with impunity.

The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is a United Nations International Day against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. It is observed annually on 26 June, since 1989.

At Ashaiman, one of such pharmacies said to have gained notoriety in selling the contraband drug, is Morton Pharmacy, located around Zenu Market, close to the Goil filing station in the Ashaiman Municipality.

The pharmacy is said to have allegedly become regularly supplier of pethidine to helpless addicts, even without prescription form.

The name of Ekuus Pharmacy, located inside the Ashaiman main lorry station was also mentioned. At Ekuus Pharmacy, for instance, a certain female attendant is said to be the one fond of selling the drug to the addicts.

The sale of the drugs is now almost widespread, and becoming a lucrative business for some individuals, especially those in the pharmaceutical industry, leaving the youth vulnerable to the drug.

The Anchor, has also identify Okaishie Drug Lane, for example, as safe haven for the sale of such dangerous drugs.

What is more worrying, is the seemingly silence of officials of Ghana Health Services, Narcotic Control Commission, Ghana Pharmaceutical Council, Ministry of Health and others, including the media.

At Maamobi, a suburb of Accra, for instance, The Anchor discovered that lots of pharmacies around the Maamobi General Hospital are deeply involved in the sale of the drug anyhow.

The Anchor was, however, shocked after it discovered a certain individual, who has been secretly and illegally selling the drug to the youth in the Maamobi area.

Our team also gathered that, even though the dispensing outlet is just a chemical shop and does not have authorization to sell certain drugs; this individual sells almost every injectable and dangerous drugs, secretly and, opens only at night.

Since Monday, April 18 to Friday, April 22, The Anchor’s tracking of the man showed he had sold continuously, packs of pethidine to a particularly client, without prescriptions.

On Wednesday, April 13, for instance, another pharmacy in the same area (name withheld), also reportedly sold about ten doses of pethidine to a customer, without a prescription form.

Some medical professionals are of the view that a total ban on the drug is in the best interest of the country, since there still exist less harmful alternative drugs to serve the same purpose.

Other pharmacies like UB Pharmacy at Maamobi, Fountain pharmacy at Dansoman as well as others around Weija Junction, Sakaman and other parts of Accra have also been identified as culprits in the reckless sale of the drug to the youth.

It is, however, unclear, what authorities given the mandate to regulate the trading of these drugs are doing to stop the menace.

About Pethidine

Pethidine is an opioid pain-relief medicine that was once widely used in Australia for pain caused by a range of conditions, but now less frequently used because newer, safer opioids are available. It is sometimes used to reduce labour pain in childbirth.

It is a class of drugs naturally found in the opium poppy plant and that work in the brain to produce a variety of effects, and can be prescription medications often referred to as painkillers or street drugs, such as heroin.

It is a narcotic drug, which is highly addictive. Our checks revealed, the sale and abuse of the drug is getting out of hands, as though there is no restriction on it.

This paper has observed, a good number of people including health workers are heavily addicted to the drug, – in spite of the drug’s side effect on heavy users.

The drug is vastly ‘consuming’ most health workers, like; doctors, anaesthetics , nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, lab technicians among others, due to their exposure to it.

The Anchor, earlier reported that, addiction to the drug among health workers has been so alarming to extent of turning some into junkies; others already lost their lives, with quite a number still receiving treatments at various rehabilitation centers.

Those familiar with the situation believe, the issue might be contributing to cases of medical negligence being recorded at some hospitals in the country, and need to be checked.

Medical experts described Pethidine as a strong painkiller with components of heroin and cocaine. It’s an injection, administered in the emergency situations at hospitals to relief patients from severe pains during or after theatre operations, child birth among others.

Sadly, however, the drug has become a ‘narcotic’ substance for some people who are heavily abusing it for pleasure, thereby destroying lives within the health sector.

Health workers like nurses, anaesthetics , Physician Assistants (PA) and doctors who have regular access to the drug are also reportedly stealing it, granted the little chance, just to feed their obsession.

The issue, is gradually becoming a huge threat to the life of patients with no public awareness on it, even though, some medical superintendents are aware that the addiction to the drug is a big challenge across the country.

More To Come…

Source: theanchorghana