(My Absent Father and DNA Saga)

At 15, I made a decision that worsened the pain of growing up without a father. I smoked weed for the first time.

I left Akatsi in 2000 as a calm “Granny’s boy” who had never seen weed before. Two years later, I returned as a full-blown “ghetto boy.” My grandmother was devastated. She wished she hadn’t let me move to Takoradi for SHS. But the damage was already done.

Lost at 15

The first 14 years of my life were spent under my grandmother’s care. Then, suddenly, I was in Takoradi, far from home, far from her. My uncle, who was supposed to look after me, got transferred to Accra. I didn’t even know my father was back in Ghana. With no phones at the time and Akatsi three regions away, I was left completely on my own.

During my first SHS midterm, I had nowhere to go. While other students travelled home, I wandered through Takoradi, discovering nightspots like Cobbypop, Brotherhood, and Harbour View Casino. Those places became my classroom.

My First Puff

One night, outside Harbour View Casino, I met a man called Paa Kwesi. He looked like a junkie but spoke fluent English with a diaspora accent. He asked if I had weed. I didn’t, but I promised to get some.

The next day, I bought two wraps from Cobbypop. I never saw him again, but now the weed was in my pocket. After fumbling with it in the bush behind campus, I eventually got someone to roll it properly. And that night, at just 15, I got high for the first time.

That choice gave my enemies, including my father, a weapon against me. I was no longer just the abandoned child. I was now the “spoilt wee smoker.”

The Reality of Teen Smoking

Smoking weed as a teenager isn’t just about getting high. It comes with stigma, stereotyping, and victimisation. People stop trusting you. Parents warn their kids to avoid you. You get labeled as a “problem child” or “criminal.”

Weed also exposes you to harder drugs because the ghettos where it’s sold are usually hubs for pills, crack, cocaine, and heroin. I lost more than 10 promising friends, bright, intelligent boys who ended up as junkies or criminals. I was lucky not to join them.

Yes, I know some people who smoke and still make money, but most are scammers or dealers. And none of them would ever want their own children to walk that path.

Some Hard Numbers

95% of those who start before age 14 often end up a mess.

80% of those who start between 15 and 18 years (SHS age) may face the same fate.

Even starting at university isn’t safe, half of them still get trapped.

Weed may be a powerful economic crop for Africa if legalised and industrialised. But for teenagers, smoking it is a dangerous gamble that closes doors and destroys futures.

My Reflection

If I hadn’t started smoking at 15, I believe I could have rebuilt my life after SHS, even without my father’s acceptance. I could have become someone he’d be proud to call a son. But I became a “fire starter” instead.

I still believe ganja should be legalised, decriminalised, and used as an export product. But for teenagers, it is poison.

A Word to Parents

Please pay attention to your children in SHS. In Ghana, unlike in the West, we send our kids away for high school at 14 to 18 years. These are the years they need their parents most.

My story isn’t about condemning weed. It’s about telling the truth. Teenagers should not smoke. I lived it. I know.