It is sad how most of our people have been brainwashed into believing “lighter is always better”. We are ashamed of our blackness and would do whatever it takes to lighten our skin tone, no matter how dangerous it may be. We find a lot of our celebrities “toning” their skin as they like to put it. Some have admitted that it is hard for a dark-skinned person (especially the females) to land a decent role in a movie.
And it is not just in the movie industry, it is everywhere. There are some business which would choose to employ someone of a lighter shade, all based on their skin tone, no special qualifications. Some pregnant women have even gone as far as to ingest dangerous chemicals to ensure their babies come out light-skinned because God forbid they give birth to a melanin-rich child. As impressionable as the youth are it is no surprise that they have jumped on the “light is right” trend.
It has come to the notice of the Food and Drugs Authority that students in the Central Region, specifically in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality are indulging in a dangerous mixture supposedly used to make their lips look “pink”. Students as young as those in basic school are hooked on the mixture locally known as “conshore”, which is a mix of toothpaste, “akpeteshie” and bleaching cream in order to get pink or reddish lips.
The mixture is popular with male and female students alike and has become a cause for concern to the FDA. Users of “conshore” have attested to the efficacy of the mixture, but admit that it is dangerous when ingested and can cause the lips to develop sores in not applied carefully.  The Central Regional Director of Food and Drugs Authority, Mr. Odai Tettey said they are on the lookout for traders and manufacturers of this product in order to bring them to book, and the FDA will be meeting with school authorities to educate students on the danger of this practice.
A Mental Health expert, Dr. Isaac Newman Arthur observed that the reason people engage in such harmful acts is as a result of inferiority complex, and encouraged teachers and the public to redefine their values in order to be more loving of themselves.