Media workshop on drug policy in West Africa underway in Accra

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Media workshop on drug policy in West Africa underway in Accra

4 June 2015

About fifty journalists across the West African sub-region have gathered in Accra, Ghana, in a two-day media workshop to build their capacities on issues affecting drug policy in West Africa.

The workshop begins on Wednesday, June 3, and ends on Thursday, June 4, 2015, and is being organized by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI),the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD), the USAID, and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

In a welcome address, the Executive Director of WACSI, Nana Asantewaa Afadzinu, said the media has a key role to play in the issues affecting drug policy in West Africa.

Nana noted that there are many misconceptions about drug issues, a reason why it is very important for journalists to get the right message and share, or convey to the public; hence, the objective of putting up the two-day Media Workshop on Drug Policy in West Africa. She decried the rate at which drug users are maltreated in the society, saying “There is so much misconception about drug issues. Those who use drugs are put in a certain black box and branded as criminals and only punished.”

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