May 15, 2018 By Regina Pratt
Tramadol is being misused by many young people
The Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone says they are concerned about the misuse of Tramadol by predominantly young persons.
Registrar of Board, Wiltshire Johnson, says they have held a stakeholders meeting to map out a strategy as to how to control the menace.
Speaking on Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation’s Morning Coffee programme yesterday, he linked the misuse of the drugs by mostly youth to the prevalence of violence and sexual abuse of girls in the country.
“Generally speaking, we do not use drugs properly in the country. We have been telling people that medicines are not chocolates, sweets which you can take anyhow. Tramadol is a pain killer but has some side effects,” he says.
Johnson blames ‘some unscrupulous people’ who trading in the drugs and illegally selling it to unsuspecting young people.
He calls for political support, through the passage of bye- laws, to tackle the social and health menace, adding that the country has low health literacy even amongst educated people.
According to Musa Shaka from the National Youth Coalition, “The tramadol these young people are taking are not sold in pharmacies but ghettos,” thus calling on the Pharmacy Board to take the lead in the fight against the misuse of drugs.