The Use And Abuse Of Drugs

The problem of drug abuse is a universal one. Nigeria like all other countries has its own share of the problem, and like other well meaning countries too, the country is fighting hard to liberate its citizens from the scourge that drug abuse constitutes.

Like any social problem, drug abuse has its own historical sequence. From different studies, it was established that Indian hemp (Marijuana) happened to be the first noticed drug in Nigeria. And according to historical facts Indian hemp was first introduced into the country by the soldiers who participated in the world war. Since then it remains the most commonest widely abused drug in Nigeria apart from alcohol which many hardly recognize as drug which can be abused. The tropical climate condition of this country also favours the cultivation of the cannabis plant which really accounts for its availability.

Also the economic boom of the early seventies and eighties saw the multiplication of breweries and distillery industries. Alcohol of all brands flowed unabated in all nooks and crannies of the country. The abuse was constituting a higher percentage. It is pertinent to mention here that before the introduction of other drugs like cocaine, Heroine, crack etc. there were also cases of abuse of other stimulants especially by students who use them to raise their alertness in their studies. It is this high rate of indulgence in drug trafficking and consumption that once brought about the poor image which led to the harassment and intimidation of Nigerians, especially those who had the privilege of traveling abroad to the Western countries.

A medical practitioner, Dr. Eugene Oganu, agrees with these and says that though Nigeria is not a producer country of cocaine, heroine, and other hard drugs, one painful reality is that these drugs are now readily available in the cities and urban centres. He observes that some of them have been adulterated to make them cheap and augment for the gains that would have accrued to the traffickers when they succeed in exporting them to Europe. Their adulteration compounds the risk the abuser exposes himself to.

A pharmacist who pleaded anonymity said that the problem of drug abuse is not hinged on  the consumption of narcotics alone, but also on the ignorance of the people as regards the effects of self medication which many Nigerians are used to. People are in the habit of taking drugs without doctors’ prescription and are either ignorant of the effects of their habit or intentionally wrecking havoc on their own lives.

The real problem, he contends, is the poverty level of the citizens resulting from the economic down turn. He argues that the nation’s economics situation is so bad that only few people could afford the cost of drugs. The fear is that they may have to spend extra money to consult a medical doctor and purchase the drugs prescribed for them.

Another medical expert, Chris Tonbara, does not, however, absolve the doctors and the pharmacists from the blame. Although he agrees that some patients and the public do not take to medical prescription, he says that the pharmacists themselves aid the abuse of drugs to some extent. According to him, a professional pharmacist worthy of his calling is expected to see a doctor’s prescription before selling drugs to the public. He says that the regulation guiding the sales of drugs discourage selling drugs arbitrarily in pharmaceutical and patent medicine stores, “The regulations are that every patent medicine store must be registered by NAFDAC, after satisfying all necessary conditions. Such a store must have a resident pharmacist who must keep registers of the drugs he sold and must ensure that drugs are sold only to qualified patients.”

Mr. Augustus Nwaiwu, a pharmacist, observes that due to the poverty level of the people they are scared of paying for cards and consultation fees at recognized hospitals so they take to self medication where they get pills at cheaper rate: the correct dosage ignorance, he says, is another reason and where some one is unaware of the proper steps to take and cuts on whatever drugs people suggest, it is scicidal and unethical”, he pointed out. He stated that sometimes when drugs are prescribed by doctors, instead of buying from pharamaceutical stores, patients resort to buying from markets and drug hawkers which in the end worsen the condition of patients even lead to their death.

It is a clear statement of fact that more than 70 percent of drugs handling and control in Nigeria is fully in the hands of people who do not have formal education on drugs, and for such people, money is the bottomline of their interest as such fake, expired, counterfeit and unwholesome products are massively imported, manufactured and easily distributed through ready open markets.

Although some pharmacists have been accused of indulging in the unwholesome practice, Mrs Josephine Obinna is of the view that some of her colleagues who have thrown the ethics of their profession to the wind should not be blamed but rather the society we live in. She opines that society does not permit strict adherence to professional norms.

According to her, for a pharmacist to make sales he needs to comply with professional rules, otherwise he could lose a lot of customers to other pharmacists who are not ready to compromise their ethics. “If you, as a pharmacist refuse to sell drugs to a customer mainly because he does not have medical prescription, you will only end up losing such customer to another pharmaceutical or patient medicine dealer, it is either that you hold on to the ethics of the profession and continue to wallow in poverty or you waiver a little and make progress. The choice is yours”, she maintained.

Even though all forms of drugs are commonly abused in the country the most dreaded in society is the narcotics easily referred to as hard drugs, and like Dr. Ogunu observes, it becomes more addictive if we consider their consequences from both medical and psychological perspective. Marijuana or Indian hemp has the power of inflicting emotional disturbance impaired concentration and distorted perception on its users. This, according to him, could lead to other medical complications like lung diseases and brain damage.

Generally speaking, the cause of drug abuse is ignorance, tied to illiteracy. Sometimes people abuse drugs in the false belief that they are reactivating themselves. Another course  of frustration which accounts for a majority of school dropouts and cultism in society.

There is a dire need for health educators to be involved in enlightening people on the dangers of drug abuse. There is what we call “Health KAP”, this is an acronym. K stands for Knowledge, A for Attitude and P stands for Practice. This is the summary of health education.

As Dr. Johnbull Okere puts it, when we take a drug that is not prescribed by a medical doctor, it is drug abuse and it has a lot of medical implications in our society. Most of the drugs abused are common drugs given in the chemist shops without a doctor’s prescription. Such drugs include antibiotics, analgesticks and anti-malaria. Other problems encountered include giving the wrong drugs and even if the drug is correct, it may be given in sub normal dosages and specific problems include drug resistance, for example, antibiotics, liver damage, paracetamol over dose, secondary bacterial infection. This complicates the patients’ illness and leads to waste of resources.

Patterson Koko