A sixteen-year-old boy ended his life after abusing nine tablets of RED 225 in a competition to identify who could best use the drug at Chiraa in the Sunyani West Municipality.
According to Dr Philip Anokye, the Clinical Coordinator at the Chiraa Government Hospital, the incident happened about three months ago and the deceased had since been buried.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Anokye explained that when the deceased was brought to the facility, he (deceased) was very weak, and had experienced some seizures in the body system.
Dr Anokye said:: “We tried our best to revive him, after initiating our emergency protocols; however he passed on due to the high level of dose.”
Dr Anokye expressed worry about the growing illicit drug abuse among young people in thearea, saying the situation was even worse during occasion days like funerals and others, and called on stakeholders to help bring the situation under control and save the precious lives of the youth.
“In fact, have recorded cases of many young people taking in wee toffees as well as alcoholic disorders and other related illicit drug abuses”, he stated, adding that the preliminary investigations showed those who abused the illicit drugs did so for ‘euphoric effects’.
Nonetheless, Dr Anokye said health personnel at the facility had intensified public education on the effects of illicit drug abuse.
He called for public support, saying the component of the “Red 225 is very dangerous and we must do more to stop the abuses”.
Medically, he added that most of the illicit drugs were unapproved, and called for collective efforts to help stem the importation of those drugs into the country.
GNA
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