A Ghanaian man has opened up about his dramatic fall from wealth and affluence into the abyss of poverty and drug addiction.
Preferring to remain anonymous, the man recounted his story during a recent radio interview, detailing how his life spiralled downward after an encounter with a drug dealer, he regarded as a friend.
The man, who once enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle complete with expensive cars and a high-profile marriage to a white woman, described how his fortunes took a severe downturn after relocating abroad.
His descent began in Ghana but worsened after he met a dealer he referred to as a “friend” in London.
This individual introduced him to a dangerous combination of cocaine and marijuana, which he was initially led to believe was just a potent form of marijuana.
“A friend in London laced my ‘weed’ with cocaine,” he revealed, explaining how the mix led him into a state of debilitating addiction.
Unable to go a day without the substance, he found himself increasingly dependent on the deadly drugs.
As his addiction deepened, the man lost everything he had worked for, including his wealth and status. Despite his academic achievements and previous success, he has become a mere shadow of his former self, struggling with poverty and substance abuse.
He notes that withdrawing from drugs has not been easy owing to the toll it has on one’s body and the mental health.
The president of Worldwide Miracle Outreach, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, has issued a warning to Ghanaian youth about the dangers of peer pressure and the importance of avoiding bad company that can corrupt their moral values.
The tele-evangelist shared his personal experience, revealing that he once fell into the trap of drug use, particularly smoking weed, during his secondary school days.
He recounted a moment when he felt the effects of the drug, seeing the sky seemingly close, and wanting to touch it.
“I remember I once smoked weed in secondary school. I saw the sky close, and I wanted to jump and touch it”, Dr. Tetteh recounted his treacherous childhood adventures to Kafui Dey.
“The first time I preached and I said it at the North Kaneshie Assemblies of God, my parents cried. My father asked me if I really did that and I said yes. I smoked the thing and I saw the sky very close and I was wondering why nobody was touching the sky so I wanted to touch it”, he revealed.
This dangerous childhood adventure was influenced by his peers.
However, he also mentioned that after that eye-opening experience, he realized the destructive path he was on and disciplined himself to stay away from drugs, including weed.
Dr. Tetteh made these revelations in light of Parliament’s recent passing of a law to allow the industrial production of cannabis.
His cautionary tale serves as a reminder of the potential negative consequences of drug use and the importance of making wise choices to avoid falling into harmful habits influenced by peer pressure.
A 43-year-old woman, Amina Musa will spend 10 years in prison with hard labour for unlawful possession and sale of cannabis popularly known as ‘weed’.
She was sentenced by the Jasikan Circuit Court, presided over His Honour Alfred Kwabena Asiedu, in the Oti Region on Friday, March 31, 2023.
Amina Mush was also ordered by the Court to pay a fine of 10,000 penalty units or in default serve another 3 years imprisonment which will run concurrently.
The Police prosecutor, Detective Inspector Bright Nkansah told the Court that on February 2023, the Nkwanta police patrol team acted on intelligence and arrested the suspect.
According to him, she was arrested at Nkwanta for possessing 18 parcels of cannabis (weed).
He explained that the suspect, who was travelling from Hohoe to Yendi, allegedly posed as a pregnant woman by fastening the slabs of the dried leaves on her belly.
However, luck eluded Amina, who was dressed in ‘maternity’ gown, when the officers on duty became suspicious of her strange body language.
A search conducted on her by police Nkwanta led to the recovery of the slabs of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis.
Detective Inspector Bright Nkansah said the matter went on full trial after which she was convicted of the charge and sentenced accordingly.
Amina Mussah, pleaded guilty simplicita to unlawful possession of narcotic drugs and she was convicted on her own plea.
Ace broadcaster, Bridget Otoo, has expressed her disappointment in one Patrick Asiedu, who accused officers of the Ghana Police Service of planting narcotics in his car.
This comes after recent findings from the Police prove that “the entire story narrated in the audio tape (by Patrick Asiedu) is false and a total fabrication by the suspect.”
In a viral audio recording, Patrick Asiedu, who has now been identified as an Uber driver and not a doctor as being purported, said some police officers framed him of possessing weed and cocaine last week Friday while on the Trasacco road while on his way home to Kwashieman.
“One of the officers, who is a Muslim swore that he could never plant drugs in a car. Then another officer started crying, saying that we are very sorry. We planted it in his car,” he was heard in parts of the audio saying.
The matter received massive reaction on social media, which drew the attention of the Police administration.
In a press statement dated January 18, the Police noted that its preliminary investigations into the matter provide information contrary to what Patrick Asiedu has brought out to the public.
“Investigations into the matter and our initial checks at the stations mentioned in the audio, East Legon and the Accra Central Police Stations, have revealed that no such complaint had been made there.”
“The Police have also contacted the Narcotics Control Commission and the Ghana Armed Forces and both institutions have indicated that no such incident has come to their attention,” the statement added.
The Police in a statement on Thursday indicated that Patrick Asiedu, who has been arrested and in police custody, fabricated the story and alleged that the incident he narrated was not a personal experience but that of one of his passengers.
Reacting to the recent development, Bridget Otoo condemned Patrick Asiedu, who she described as a “fool” for destroying the tiniest opportunity for true victims of such incident to share their experience and be taken for their word.
She noted that falsely accusing the police on such sensitive issues would only embolden the corrupt officers who engage in unlawful activities.
“The police have found one scapegoat, they will milk everything out of him and I expect them to. We use our platform to advocate for people who don’t have a voice, when one fool does such a stupid thing, it emboldens all the corrupt officers.
“But what kind of disease will make a person make up such a story? When you do this, you destroy the any opportunity to make a change in @GhPoliceService and also genuine victims of of such crimes will find it hard to come forward and won’t be believed when they do!” she tweeted.
The police have found one scapegoat, they will milk everything out of him and I expect them to.
We use our platform to advocate for people who don’t have a voice, when one fool does such a stupid thing, it emboldens all the corrupt officers. …I personally spoke to the victim pic.twitter.com/1lCvwfdrGU
Prior to the Police’s findings, the media practitioner faulted the Police administration for failing to properly train its officers, whom she claimed planted narcotics into the vehicles of citizens.
“Your men are going round planting cocaine and weed in Peoples’s cars, and instead of dealing with it, you care about the word ‘some’!!
“Don’t take the word of @GhPoliceService over the victim. IGP should be ashamed of himself. You know the victim, your men have spoken to the victim,” she earlier shared.
Your men are going round planting cocaine and weed in Peoples cars and instead of dealing with it, you care about the word ‘some’!! Don’t take the word of @GhPoliceService over the victim. IGP should be ashamed of himself. You know the victim, your men have spoken to the victim. pic.twitter.com/EhjBWZUzdl
It is assumed that she judged the police before they were able to probe the matter because she had reached out to the suspect, Patrick Asiedu, who maintained his stance that he was framed.
“I personally spoke to the victim more than once after a medical doctor gave me his contact to help him, I felt the need to add my voice to help him from being silenced by an institution that has ranked consistently as the most corrupt in Ghana,” she recently tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Police has assured that Patrick Asiedu will be made to face the law for his actions.
Snoop Dogg took to Instagram Sunday to hopefully set the record straight, once and for all, about the amount of weedhe smokes in a day.
“Bitch said I smoke… bitch, this is all in a day’s work. Stop lying,” Snoop said. “Fuck I’ma smoke all that weed in one day. What am I, a fuckin’ machine? Bitch, this is the roaches. See… roaches.”
Snoop decided to present visual evidence two days after denying the claim that he smokes “roughly” 75 to 150 blunts a day, writing, “The bitch is conning u man.”
According to the New York Post, Renegade Piranha, who identifies herself as Snoop’s personal blunt roller, claimed he smokes half a pound of weed every day during her appearance on the Australian radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
A Snoop Dogg Lullaby Album Is on the Way
“I calculate it at over 450,000,” she added.
Back in 2013, Snoop revealed on Twitter that he smoked 81 blunts per day, leading many to believe that her estimate seemed about right.
Snoop spoke about his PBR, or professional blunt roller, during a 2019 appearance on The Howard Stern Show with Seth Rogen. “That’s his J-O-B—his occupation,” Snoop reassured Stern. “On his resume, it says, ‘What do you do? I’m a blunt roller. P-B-R, professional blunt roller.”
“He knows how to gauge the look on someone’s face when it seems like they want a blunt and if they do, he gives you one,” said Rogen, who, according to HipHopDX, was hired by Waka Flocka Flame to be his professional blunt roller in 2014.
In June, Snoop revealed his PBR had been given a raise due to inflation. The rapper wouldn’t disclose their exact salary, but the UberFacts Twitter account claimed their annual salary was somewhere between $40,000 to $50,000.
Snoop revealed on Stephen A. Smith’s Know Mercy podcastthat he and Dr. Dre have spent the last two months working on an album tentatively titled Missionary. He said they hope to release the project later this month.
Two persons have been apprehended by the Ankaful Maximum Security Prisons for attempting to smuggle 15 parcels of Indian hemp to an inmate at the Prisons.
Nana Yaw Pablo, 26, and Opiah Mensah, 17, all unemployed, and residing at Amisano in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) municipality of the Central Region.
Briefing the Ghanaian Times, the Central Regional Prisons Public Relations Officer, Superintendent (Supt) Vincent B. Ziniel, explained that an inmate at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prisons, appealed to a prison personnel on duty to assist him by working on a project for a fee.
Upon further discussion, the personnel realise that the inmate had the intention of smuggling Indian hemp into the Prisons, and alerted his superiors about the development.
Sup Ziniel said the prison officer expressed interest in the deal, and the prisoner gave the contact phone number of the officer to two suspects.
He indicated that, Nana Yaw Pablo later called the prison personnel to arrange on how the Indian hemp would be passed on safely to the inmate without any trace.
Sup Ziniel said the suspects arranged to meet the personnel at a guest house in order to receive the parcel for onward delivery to the inmate.
The prison officer, according to Supt Ziniel, informed the management about the agreed location and a team was dispatched to assist in apprehending the suspects.
He said that, the suspects were arrested after they handed over the 15 parcels of Indian hemp.
Supt Ziniel stated that, the suspects attempted to flee when they realised that their cover had been blown.
The two suspects, he said, have been handed over to the Elmina District Police.
Dennis Akomea alias “Monday†a 37-year-old electrician charged for illegal possession of cannabis has been convicted by the Ashanti-Bekwai Circuit Court.
The court thus sentenced him to a fine of GHC3,000.00.
Akomea before being sentenced told the Court that he uses the cannabis to cure an ailment and pleaded for mercy and mitigation.
In default, Akomea will serve 12 months imprisonment with hard labour.
The convict who had been in custody for two years and had changed his plea of not guilty to guilty whilst his accomplice Kwaku Antwi alias “Best†is now at large.
Prosecuting, Detective Police Chief Inspector Stephen Ofori told the Court presided over by Mr Marc Diboro Tirimah that Antwi, now 42, a trader and Akomea were residents of Bekwai-Nyameduase.
He said on March 29, 2018, at about 1130 hours, a team of police personnel led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Edward Boateng embarked on patrol duties to immobiliser miscreants and deviants in the Bekwai Municipality and its environs.
This was to ensure that residents celebrate the 2018 Easter festivities without any security breach, the prosecution told the Court.
He said the two were arrested at an alleged drug peddling base at Nyameduase and when a search was conducted on them, 13 wrappers of Cannabis popularly known as “Wee†were found on each of them.
Chief Inspector Ofori said they were then handed over to an investigative team together with the exhibits and during their cautioned statements, admitted the offence.
The exhibits were forwarded to the Crime Forensic Laboratory for examination as well as report and it proved positive for Cannabis.
The Court in passing sentence considered the fact that Akomeah pleaded guilty
A man, who allegedly attempted to smuggle some substance, suspected to be cannabis, and other contraband goods, into the Kaneshie Police cells, has been arrested.
Nurudeen Arafat, 21, allegedly concealed the cannabis, quantities of amphetamines and diazepam tablets, and a packet of cigarettes with a lighter in an empty sachet water bag.
The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Effia Tenge, speaking to the Ghanaian Times in an interview in Accra yesterday, said the suspect was in custody assisting in investigations.
At about 6 pm last Friday, she said Arafat went to the Kaneshie Police station to give the contraband goods to an inmate whose name was given only as Manaf on remand for robbery.
DSP Tenge said the police found the cannabis and other contraband goods in the bag and arrested Arafat.
The Police PRO said the suspected cannabis would be taken to the forensic laboratory for examination.
Apostle Kwabena Owusu Adjei has tested positive for Tramadol and Tetrahydrocannabinol after a urine sample test conducted by the Police Hospital in Accra after his arrest on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, by National Security Operatives.
The 56-year-old man tested positive for Tramadol and Tetrahydrocannabinol in a test conducted and results signed by Supt/Dr. Adwoa Nuro-Panin, MWACP (Psychiatry) and sighted by Peacefmonline.com.
The self-styled preacher, Apostle Kwabena Owusu Adjei who was seen in a viral video threatening and castigating President Akufo-Addo and the Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jean Mensa has been arrested.
He displayed that if the voters’ register is allowed to be changed, the Electoral Commissioner will die, adding that Ghana will not allow a small family to dictate to the nation.
Arrest
In a video seen by Peacefmonline.com, the Apostle was arrested on Tuesday morning at what appears to be his home (coded location) during a live interview with Accra based Hot FM.
He was apprehended by the plain cloth security personnel immediately he started ranting again during the interview.
The officers with an arrest warrant interrupted the interview and whisked him away in a black vehicle.
Indian Hemp
In another video seen in an office where he was taken to after the arrest, the Prophet in handcuff was seen holding a substance suspected to be Indian Hemp wrapped in a brown paper and being search thoroughly by the security personnel.
Remand
The accused person pleaded not guilty to threat of death, contrary to Section 75 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace and possession of narcotic drugs.
He has been remanded by the court to reappear on June 23, 2020. Source: Peace FM
The Rastafari Council have applauded Ghana Parliament for legalising cannabis for health and industrial purposes in the country.
On Friday 20th March 2020, the Parliament passed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, 2019, which transforms the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) into a Commission with enhanced powers to control and eliminate trafficking of prohibited narcotic drugs.
Per the new law, NACOB also becomes a Commission with additional powers to oversee the industrial use of some narcotic substances.
The new law empowers the Minister for Interior to grant licences for the cultivation of cannabis of not more than 0.3 percent THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives the users a high sensation, for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Reacting to this development, the Rastafari Council who have been advocating the legalisation of cannabis over the years congratulated the government and urged it to take advantage of this opportunity to initiate policies to industrialise the production and processing of cannabis in the country as part of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.
“The legalisation of Cannabis in Ghana paves the way for sustainable job creation, income opportunities for households and marginalised populations, enhanced foreign capital remission through export, lawful access to medicinal advancements in cannabis, and the regeneration of lands which have been destroyed through surface mining and acts of environmental degradation,†the Council said in a statement.
The Council admonished the public to abide faithfully by the regulatory requirements contained in the Act in order to realise its objects.
The Council further said it looks forward to engage further with Parliament and the various arms of government on ways to harness the enormous economic, medicinal and environmental prospects of cannabis legalisation.
Already, countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, and South Africa are among African countries that have decriminalised the use of cannabis for health purposes.
Security officials in Kasese District have destroyed more than 2.5 acres of marijuana plantations in Queen Elizabeth National Park and arrested six suspects.
The officials found the plantations about 20 kilometers from Kanyangeya UWA ranger post in Kasese Town.
Ms. Zelufa Masika, an investigator with UWA at Katunguru post, said they received intelligence information that a group of people had invaded the park and planted marijuana.
“After our intelligence gathered the information, we had to mobilize a team of rangers who surrounded the park and arrested six suspects. The gardens were later handed over to Kasese Central Police Station for further management,†Ms Masika said.
She said the planters had started harvesting and plants had matured up to about five months.
Mr Aron Isingoma, the officer-in-charge of Kanyangeya UWA ranger post, said it took them four days to track the whereabouts of the plantations and the suspects. Mr Vincent Twesige, the Rwenzori east regional police spokesperson, confirmed the arrests. “We currently have six suspects as investigations continue. We must establish the real owners of the gardens in the national park so that they can be dealt with accordingly,†Mr Twesige said.
“We are going to charge them with being in possession of narcotics, operating without licenses and trafficking, among other charges of illegal entry into the national park,†Mr Twesige said.
He added that they had recovered sacks of the marijuana and the plantations had been cut down and burnt.
Police suspect that people who do illegal activities in the park could be armed poachers.
One of the suspects said they sell a basin of the marijuana at Shs100,000 to some businesspeople who take it to Kampala.
In 2013, another garden of marijuana was destroyed in the park.
Law says
According to Anti-Narcotic Act of 2015, anyone found in possession of narcotics is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on conviction, operating without licence is five years while trafficking it [buying and selling] attracts a sentence of life imprisonment.
