By Yunus S Saliu
Among other drugs, cannabis sativa has been noted to be the most commonly used drug and it also accounted for the highest seizure in The Gambia, disclosing this is the Director Intelligence and International Cooperation of Drug Law Enforcement Agency, The Gambia (DLEAG).
Lamin J Gassama disclosed in his presentation at the just concluded DLEAG two days organized workshop on the popularization of the Drug Control Bill. The workshop was sponsored by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) support to ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on Illicit Drug trafficking, related organized crime and drug abuse in West Africa.
In his comprehensive presentation on drug situation in The Gambia, he said “the most commonly used drug in The Gambia is cannabis sativa accounting for the highest seizure.” While, he added that the abused of control drug such as Diazepam and Clonazepam is gradually increasing among the youth.
He said statistic shows a fluctuating trend in the seizure of Cocaine, Heroine and Hashish. “Seizure of a number of psychotropic substances/control drugs is slowly on the rise. And The Gambia continues to be used as transit for Cocaine, Heroine and Cannabis originating from South America, Asia and Cassamance region of Senegal respectively while Methamphetamine from Nigeria are suspected to be entering the country through the Sea and Air boarders,” he disclosed.
He went further that Cannabis from Cassamance and Cocaine and Hashish from Guinea Bissau enter the country mainly through the land border.
In term of prosecution of offenders, between 2012 and 2018, he said 1,656 cases were filed in court. Breaking it down, he said 748 convictions were secured out of the total number of cases determined, 158 acquitted and discharged.
The Director Intelligence and International Cooperation noted that the majority of the convicts are youth – male within the age bracket of 20 to 35 years, and during the period under review six motor vehicles and five motorbikes were forfeited in 2018.
On drug induce psychosis (DIP), he said Tanka Tanka registered five hundred and twenty-six (526) admissions in 2018 and youth (age 19 to35 years) constitutes the majority which accounting four hundred and eight (408), while children (age 18 and below) and adult (age 36 and above) account for sixteen (16) and one hundred and two (102) respectively. It is worth knowing that five hundred and seventeen (517) male and nine (9) female eight (8) of which are youth.
According to him, records generated from the health information system (HIS) revealed that the total number of people affected by DIP stands at two thousand two hundred and sixty-three (2,263), this includes one (1) male in-patient. He added that out of this, two thousand, one hundred and seventy two (2,172) are male and ninety (90) female.