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Cocaine sale in broad daylight in Ghana
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, Jan 22, Ghanadot - Everyday, an average of thirty
(30) people, young and old, rich and poor; throng the New
Town suburb of Accra to buy substances suspected to contain
cocaine to sniff.
They only need to dish out as little as GH¢2.00 or GH¢3.00
to get the cocaine, which connoisseurs say is quite
expensive. The suspicion there is that the cocaine, which
ordinarily is injurious to human health, is adulterated and
comes as double jeopardy to the health of addicts at New
Town.
The shocking thing is that they inhale, sniff, drink
concoctions or inject themselves with the stuff in the full
glare of the general public.
In very high demand at the joint located near the Shell
Filling Station at New Town are ‘clear’ and ‘boom’, the two
most popular cocaine kinds that sell at GH¢3.00 and GH¢2.00
respectively.
The process of acquiring the cocaine is simple; you just
drive or walk to the vicinity at any time of the day and
either boldly walk to the joint to purchase yourself or hire
the service of the ‘ghetto boys’ to buy for you.
There is no stress at all. (The ‘ghetto boys’ are jobless
street youth who are ever eager to offer any kind of service
so to have an opportunity of taking a short at cocaine, you
can use any of them.
Visits by the Heritage newspaper to the site revealed that a
lot of people, mostly boys in their formative years who
ought to have been at school preparing themselves for future
life, have so much embraced and become addicted to cocaine
and marijuana use that, they spend very little on food. They
look lean, dirty and drained of all energy but what keeps
them on their feet.
Asem, a popular sniffer, when approached by reporters
disguised as ‘ghetto boys’ to buy rolls of cocaine, had this
to say: “Master, we have the ‘clear’ and the ‘boom’, its
very strong; which one do you prefer?”
The team opted for the ‘clear’, the more expensive brand at
the joint, which supposedly very responsible people who
drive in posh cars throng there on daily basis to buy
through middlemen.
After successfully obtaining the substance, the team was
shocked to find that a tip it gave Asem, the middleman,
after employing his service, was used to buy two rolls of
the stuff for his personal use. He wouldn’t consider food,
an item of clothing or any other thing as preferred option;
as far as he was concerned, there was no opportunity cost at
all.
Further checks revealed that the rate of deaths among the
youth engaged in the sniffing is unusually high. A nearby
shopkeeper lamented, “You see, my brother, the cocaine kills
them easily but they don’t stop.”
For the benefit of the curious and uninitiated, the
snuffling is done by dropping a small quantity of the
cocaine on a sheet of paper, preferably the ones used to rap
chewing gums. Heat is then applied through a lighter beneath
the sheet and the vapour that evaporates is sniffed for
seconds until the user gets very high. And sniffing is
currently in vogue, far more popular than all the other
practices.
Another worrying development the paper found out was the
fact that a number of hostels housing students from various
institutions in the capital are situated in the area, posing
the danger of most students indulging in the practice.
The sniffers prefer places where there is heat to
facilitate, according to them, the process. Parents whose
children live in the vicinity close to the school could,
therefore, monitor their wards by looking out for those who
frequently experience intense seating and get easily
agitated and often like to be at places where there is heat.
The police, the paper is reliably informed, have on
countless occasions raided the area to arrest perpetrators
of the crime, but the cocaine dealers always regroup shortly
after every raid.
Ghanadot
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