By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Friday, 16 February 2007
Seventy per-cent of people who become drug abusers in their teens die by the age of 45, earlier than their normal lifespan, Dr. George Osei, Medical Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, has said.
He said those who are introduced to drugs after the age of 20 also have their lifespan reduced by 25 years.
Giving a talk at the Ngleshie Amanfro Secondary School in the Ga West District on the topic "Drug Abuse", he said the other 30 per cent of those introduced to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin also get complica-tions such as cancer and mental illness.
The programme was organised by the Parent Teacher Association of the school to educate the students on the effects of drug abuse.
Dr.Osei noted that about 30 per cent of the patients between 15 and 40 years at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital are there because of drug abuse.
"Drug abuse is having serious effects on the people engaged in it," he said, adding that drugs interfere with the function of the brain which brings a certain level of excitement and makes users think they are being helped.
Apart from the brain, he noted that hard drugs sometimes interrupt the normal function of the heart, kidney and the pancreas.
He advised the students to stay away from hard drugs and unprescribed drugs to avoid jeopardising their future. They should rather focus on their studies to become good and responsible citizens.
There was also a quiz on Ghana at 50 during which the students were asked questions ranging from political to economic history of Ghana.
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