Ghana's Opioid Crisis: Pharmaceutical Society Calls for Stricter Regulations

Accra, Ghana - 01 April, 2025 - Ghana's youth are facing a burgeoning opioid crisis, with the misuse of tramadol and codeine-based medications leading to severe health complications and fatalities.

To combat this issue, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana is calling for enhanced regulatory measures and monitoring.

The society is urging regulatory bodies to intensify their oversight of pharmacies and drug distribution channels, citing concerns about unlicensed pharmacies selling opioids at dangerously high doses.

Dr. Richmond Adusa-Poku emphasized the need for collaborative efforts between regulatory agencies, community leaders, and law enforcement to trace the source of illicit opioids and curb their spread.

He also warned about the alarming increase in unauthorized pharmacies dispensing opioids, such as tramadol, in excessively high doses. Specifically, he highlighted the 225 mg "street red" variant as a major concern, deeming it entirely unacceptable and irresponsible.

“Pharmacists have a book called dangerous drugs book and in it are all the opioids that we sell per prescription and we stamp them. The FDA have a policy where opioids are written separately from other medications and we record everything on this dangerous drugs so that when they come for monitoring, they can know how we sold opioids and that will call for more monitoring from the FDA and Pharmacy Council,'' he said during an interview on the Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Monday, March 31.

“We have heard that there are some pharmacies that sell these street red which are 225 mg in strength, which is totally out of order, and this is where we have to let Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) intelligence officers get down on the ground and link up with the community leaders and trace the source of these opioids.”

Source: Lead News Online