A group photograph of stakeholders at the meeting
Enhancing Africa’s Response to Transnational Organised Crime (ENACT) in partnership with the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has held a stakeholder engagement to discuss a pilot project on Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) in West Africa for persons with substance use disorders.
The discussion on Alternative to Incarceration project held yesterday in Accra is expected to among others increase the operation of a specialised court programme that targets treatment and recovery for people with substance use disorders, to increase understanding of policymakers on various options of diversion points for people with substance use disorders (SUD).
It is also aimed at establishing closer collaboration between different actors from a criminal justice and the health systems to address the needs of people with SUD in contact with the criminal justice system.
Stakeholders drawn from various sectors who attended the event which started on Monday, June 3 and ends on Saturday, June 8, 2024 include Narcotics Control Commission, Ministry of Health, judges, representatives from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), West African Networks Civil Society on Substance Abuse (WANCSA) among others.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the ECOWAS resident representative in Ghana, Baba Wana Wakil said substance abuse has long been a significant concern worldwide, with traditional punitive measures which has often proved insufficient in addressing the root causes and contributing to the vicious cycle of criminal behaviour.
He stated that world drug report mentioned that about 296 million people used drugs at least once in 2021, and about 39.5 million of these people have substance abuse disorders with only about 1.5 million people with the SUD having access to treatment.
He, therefore, called for a gradual shift from incarceration to the provision of treatment and care for people with SUD’s worldwide.
He said the ECOWAS Commission is therefore mobilising resources to assist people with SUD’s in its member states to access drug treatment and rehabilitation instead of incarceration.
Director General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, for his part, said it was imperative to recognise the gravity of the challenge as substance use disorders continue to have a toll not only on individuals but on families, communities, and the country as a whole.
He said the Government of Ghana has taken significant steps towards placing health and human rights at the heart of national drug policy, which is evident through the enactment of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020.
According to him, the Act provides for a shift from incarceration to public health for persons with substance use disorders in consonance with the global shift from incarceration to treatment and rehabilitation as a best practice.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah