● Naa Puowele Karbo III

 The Paramount Chief of the Lawra Traditional Area Naa Puowele Karbo III has called on Government and stakeholders in the Upper West Region to implement programmes and policies that would help address substance abuse and its impact on the youth.

He said three young peo­ple have died as a result of substance abuse in the Lawra Municipality in 2023, confirm­ing concerns that illicit drug abuse was becoming a serious problem among the youth.

The Paramount Chief made the call during the celebra­tion of this year’s Kobine fes­tival of the Chiefs and People of the Lawra Traditional Area during last weekend.

It was on the theme “sub­stance abuse, impact on hu­man resource management.”

The festival was to give thanks to God and the an­cestors for a successful end of the farming year and to welcome another farming season with the expectation of a good harvest.

Naa Karbo III stressed on the need for policy makers to develop social interventions that would create jobs and permanent livelihoods for the youth.

“The cause of the alarm­ing rate of substance abuse especially among the youth can be attributed to the high unemployment rate among them and the frustration of highly qualified students not having access to further edu­cation or jobs and the general economic situation in the country”, he said.

The Chief said the effect of the harmful drugs included mental illness, labour dis­eases, kidney disorders and low productivity among the youth.

He called on develop­ment agents to ensure that programmes providing inter­ventions to substance abuse be targeted at the family, schools and communities leaders with the view of rais­ing awareness among peers.

The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Sallih said the fight against sub­stance abuse was a shared responsibility which required all hands to help fight the menace.

He called on stakehold­ers in the country to get involved in the advocacy and fight against substance abuse among the youth.

He encouraged the youth to be advocates against the use of drugs among their peers and other youth in their various communities

 From Rafia Abdul Razak, Wa