The Member of Parliament for Sissala East Constituency in the Upper West Region, Mohammed Issah Bataglia, has stated that drug abuse among the youth in the constituency is a National Security threat. According to him, there must be an urgent need to combat the spread of illicit drugs, which he described as a significant threat to the youth and that the traditional and religious leaders should speak against it.
The MP, who was speaking in an interview with The Chronicle warned that if immediate action was not taken, many young men and women in the region could lose their ability to contribute productively to society within the next five years.
“This will be one of the key issues my office will focus on preventing the entry of drugs into the constituency and ensuring that those involved in the trade are arrested,” he stated.
To achieve this goal, he appealed to traditional and religious leaders to support law enforcement efforts against drug peddlers rather than interfering with legal processes.
“When these measures are being implemented we need your support positively, not negatively. We cannot have people pleading for the release of offenders simply because they are relatives,” he emphasised.
Mohammed Issah Bataglia said the situation was alarming and that drug abuse had contributed to a rise in mental illness cases and a decline in leadership potentials among the youth.
He called for collaboration between the government, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to combat the crisis, stating “If no decisive action is taken, our psychiatric units will be overwhelmed in the next ten years.”
