The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana has advocated for stricter regulations and improved monitoring to address the escalating issue of opioid abuse among the youth in Ghana.
Opioid addiction has emerged as a significant public health crisis, with reports highlighting an increase in the illegal sale and misuse of potent painkillers like tramadol and codeine.
This misuse has been associated with serious health risks, including addiction, mental health issues, organ damage, and even deaths.
In an interview with the media, a member of the Executive Committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr. Richmond Adusa-Poku, urged the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Pharmacy Council, and other regulatory agencies to enhance their oversight of pharmacies and drug distribution systems.
He specifically raised concerns about the proliferation of unlicensed and unethical pharmacies selling high-dose opioids, particularly the 225 mg “street red” variant, which he deemed completely unacceptable and out of order.
“Pharmacists have a book called dangerous drugs book and in it are all the opioids that we sell per prescription and we stamp them. The FDA have a policy where opioids are written separately from other medications and we record everything on this dangerous drugs so that when they come for monitoring, they can know how we sold opioids and that will call for more monitoring from the FDA and Pharmacy Council.
“We have heard that there are some pharmacies that sell these street red which are 225 mg in strength, which is totally out of order, and this is where we have to let Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) intelligence officers get down on the ground and link up with the community leaders and trace the source of these opioids.”
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Story by: Cindy Selasi Humade| univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by: Kuuku Osei Baidoo