A preliminary study of drug abuse and its mental health and health consequences among addicts in Greater Accra, Ghana.

This article represents a preliminary effort to describe drug abuse in Tudu, one of a number of neighborhoods in Accra that serve as drug centers. The problems of such neighborhoods reflect the drug problems that currently beset the rest of Ghana and Accra in particular. There is almost no fundamental current research on this issue. The few works cited comprise virtually the entire body of existing literature on this subject, and they fall far short of providing a comprehensive account of the changes that drugs have made in the social structure of the greater Accra region. This article is based on research done in the drug parlors and alleyways where the Tudu drug trade is conducted, and is a preliminary effort to redress the current lack of information by documenting the changing patterns of drug use in greater Accra. The findings reveal that a shift is underway from traditional marijuana abuse to abuse of crack cocaine and heroin. The article highlights the social relations that characterize this more dangerous drug setting and enhances the understanding of the psychiatric comorbidity of drug abuse, health, and behavior. These conclusions are derived from a multifaceted approach to data collection, taken to enhance the validity of research findings.