VOA标准英语2008年-Ghana's Hard Drug Usage Spreads to Pregnant Wom

Doctors in Ghana say they are noticing a very disturbing trend of more and more pregnant women getting addicted² to hard drugs like cocaine³. But they say health practitioners⁴ lack knowledge or even basic statistics to help tackle the problem. VOA's Nico Colombant has more with reporting by Ruby⁵ Amable in Accra.

Even as children play in the Tudu area of central Accra, drug users line up to do lines of cocaine, out in the open, not far from the regional police headquarters.

Doctors say they have noticed more and more pregnant women are also hooked, endangering the lives of their unborn babies.

Dr. Alex Dodoo is the president of the Pharmaceutical⁶ Society of Ghana.

"There are increasing reports and I would stress that at this stage most of them are anecdotal, that several women who were on hard drugs, cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana are giving birth to children who are being affected⁷ by the substances their parents, particularly, the mothers have abused," said Dr. Dodoo.

Scientists say cocaine used during pregnancy⁸ can increase the risk of miscarriage⁹, trigger pre-term labor¹⁰ or cause the baby to grow poorly, have a smaller brain and suffer from health problems such as urinary-tract defects.

Babies born to women addicted to cocaine, or who are breast-fed by drug-using mothers, also face an increased risk of mental retardation¹¹.
　
Some women patients leave the recovery ward¹² when they become pregnant

Dr. Dodoo says women undergoing treatment for drug abuse in Accra often disappear if they get pregnant.

"Some were doing the treatment process, they get pregnant and disappear. They do give birth in health facilities across the country. Unfortunately, because this, hitherto, was not a big problem, medical practitioners are not trained to pick up the signs and symptoms of infants who have been affected by drug abuse by their mothers during the pregnancy period or before the pregnancy period," explained Dr. Dodoo.

Another problem he says is that there are no statistics to help the government come up with an effective policy to combat the problem.
　
The outside of the addictive¹³ diseases unit in Accra

"The situation is quite chaotic¹⁴ and needs to be rationalized and sorted out. So it is actually about time the universities and the health services collected good quality baseline information on the extent of drug abuse in the country," said Dr. Dodoo. "When that is done, then in subsequent years, it becomes easier to know whether the problem is getting solved or whether the problem is getting worse. So yes we have problems having good statistics. In fact we have a problem having any statistics at all about the extent of usage of hard drugs in this country."

No women users were available to be interviewed for this report.

However, as the sound of a nearby mosque¹⁵ in Tudu indicated the call for prayer, one addict¹, told VOA, he was busy looking for cocaine.

"I am a barber," he said. "I am looking around for cocaine, ganja, cigarettes, all the drugs, unless I do not have the money. But when I have it, it is non-stop. I do not have a limit. For the whole day, I will be sick, if I do not get it, I will be sick."

Doctors say it seems the rise of drug trafficking through West Africa from South America to Europe is leaving behind drugs, and a new local generation of hard drug users, including expecting mothers.

 

1 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

2 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

3 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

4 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

5 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

6 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 miscarriage   

n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产

参考例句：

• The miscarriage of our plans was a great blow.计划的失败给我们以巨大的打击。
• Women who smoke are more to have a miscarriage.女性吸烟者更容易流产。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 retardation   

n.智力迟钝，精神发育迟缓

参考例句：

• Asbestos reinforcement confers excellent flame retardation properties on a composite. 石棉增强材料使复合材料具有优异的防火性能。
• The theory confirms the increase in the retardation effect with decrease in particle size. 理论证实，随着颗粒尺寸的减小，这一减速效应将增大。

12 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

13 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

14 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

15 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。