Ghana is laying the groundwork to set up a narcotics fund to help in the rehabilitation of drug addicts in the country, an official said on Wednesday.
Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), said this during the national commemoration of this year’s World Drug Day in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
Adu-Amanfoh said the new NACOC Act, 2020 (Act 1019) mandates the commission to set up the substance use rehabilitation fund, to finance the setting up of rehabilitation centers, and to support the work of private rehabilitation centers in the country.
He said these rehabilitation centers would provide services for those who find themselves in that position as drug addicts.
This is part of Ghana’s policy shift from imprisoning drug addicts to medical care and rehabilitation for them, said the official.
He explained that when the courts establish that a suspect caught with narcotic drugs is an addict, they would refer that suspect to rehabilitation centers rather than incarceration.
“Ghana has found itself in a position where it is ahead of its sister countries in Africa in that respect,” the NACOC director-general stated.
According to him, all the preparatory work, the guidelines, and the institutional framework were complete for the establishment of the fund.
“We are hoping to launch the fund this year. Although this is an election year, we still hope to launch it this year or in the first quarter of next year,” Adu-Amanfoh disclosed.
But the director-general added that even before the launch of the fund, the government had started supporting the existing rehabilitation centers through physical infrastructure rehabilitation and capacity building for both public and private rehabilitation centers.
Cheikh Toure, Head of the Law Enforcement Section, United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for West Africa, lauded Ghana for passing the new Act that emphasizes rehabilitation for addicts.
“The state has the responsibility to ensure that the fund has enough resources to provide well-needed rehabilitation and other medical support for drug addicts,” Toure urged. The theme for 2024 World Drug Day is “The evidence is clear: Invest in prevention. It encourages countries to understand that effective drug policies must come with science, research, compassion, and full respect for human rights.