The Minister of the Interior, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, has expressed concern about the slow pace of the judiciary in dealing with drug- related cases. "Thirty-three out of the forty-nine drug-related cases are still pending at the law courts. The impression is that the judicial system in this country is rather sluggish," he said. Dr Addo Kufuor made this observation during a familiarisation visit to the offices of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) in Accra yesterday. He said no single state agency could tackle the drug problem and this has necessitated the establishment of the Interagency Committee on Drug and Law Enforcement which includes the Police, Bureau of National Investigations, the Ghana Immigration Service and the NACOB. The government is committed to fighting the drug menace and this is indicative of structures put in place to strengthen the NACOB, he said. Additionally, the government has restructured the NACOB into specialised units to enable it to perform its duties effectively. Dr Addo Kufuor commended the staff of the board and other drug-detection agencies for their efforts at fighting the drug menace and assured them of the government's support in their work. The outgoing Executive Secretary of NACOB, Ben Botwe, outlined some of the challenges facing the board as low salaries of staff, ageing fleet of vehicles used for operations, limitations of the existing law on drug enforcement and prosecution, and the lack of appropriate equipment for surveillance and interdiction activities. He appealed to the government to assist the board to complete the present premises in which it is housed. The Chief Justice Georgina T. Wood, ealier this month designated 12 High and Circuit Courts across the country to deal exclusively with cases of armed robbery, narcotics and unlawful possession of weapons and explosives. It took effect from July 2. The designated courts will also deal with cases of unlawful assembly with offensive weapons and importation of explosives. Source: Times