The Founder of New Life Regeneration Foundation Miss Roselyn Sena Gbetanu has advised the youth to make responsible and healthy life choices that would always secure their future.
She said while enjoying their youth, they should spare a thought for living cautious lives that would not throw their future into jeopardy.
She gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at the sidelines during the commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse held at the Accra Technical University in Accra.
It was on the theme: “prevention to profession, every youth must be growing up with a skill, talent or passion”.
The event was held under the New Life Regeneration Foundation Operational Framework For Drug Abuse Prevention in Senior High Schools.
It was attended by second-cycle students and a section of tertiary students from the University.
Miss Gbetanu admonished the youth to make healthy friendships, adding that it would come in handy if they had mentors who would provide them with moral and career guidance as they grow into full adulthood.
She advised the youth to seek counsel from counselling units in their schools if confronted with issues that cloud their judgement and decision-making situations.
The Foundation, she said, would continue to bridge the gap between state institutions and all potential persons involved in the illegal usage of drugs.
The organisation, she said, would soon partner with traditional authorities and other stakeholders to make binding decisions and bylaws against drug peddlers in communities.
In a presentation by Chief Superintendent Abdul Aziz Ali, the Acting Greater Accra Regional Commander of the Narcotics Control Commission, he disclosed that in view of the fact that a variety of substances are being abused by some unscrupulous individuals, the name drug abuse was shifted to substance abuse.
He said alcohol and cigarettes are legal drugs because there is no law that makes one liable for arrest for using them, adding however one can be arrested for the consequences for using such substances.
He cautioned the youth to desist from drug abuse because it could lead to addiction once they start.
Chief Superintendent Ali urged the youth to disabuse their minds of the notion that cannabis was legalised as a basis to abuse it, adding that persons found abusing the substance could be prosecuted or fined.
He told participants, “let nobody deceive you that if you take cannabis you would get the energy to imbibe more information for better academic outcomes, saying that “if you take the substance, you could learn for prolong hours but cannot reproduce it during examination, when necessary, which could be detrimental to one’s fortunes.
Mr Eric Adjei (Esq.) the Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) urged the students to place greater premium on their education which would secure their future livelihoods to a greater extent.
He admonished them to do away with peer pressure and anything that would distract them from their focus and set goals in life.
“Life is how you make it, not how someone would make it for you”, he said.
He encouraged the participants to persist in their studies while striving to achieve success through hardwork and perseverance without resorting to drug abuse to achieve their goals.
In a closing remark, Ambassador Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah urged participants to adopt the principle of “prevention is better than cure” before reaching the stage of addiction.
He said it was the duty of participants to educate friends, family members, and neighbors on the message received.