Drug Abuse: Need For Action

A couple of days ago, humanity
marked the 2014 International Day
Against Drug Abuse and illicit Drug trafficking. It is a day set aside by the United Nations to arouse global consciousness on the dangers of drug abuse and the urgent need to check the phenomenon.
The United Nations had on December 7, 1987, through Resolution 42/112, set aside June 26 every year as the World Drug Day. The theme for this year is a message of Hope that: “Drug use Disorders are preventable and treatable”.
In commemoration of this year’s World Drug Day, the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Ahmadu Giade told stakeholders in Lagos that some 230 million people or five per cent of the world population use illegal drugs.
Giade said the figure was contained in the 2013 Report of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) and that no fewer than 200,000 people – mostly youths, – died worldwide from illicit drug – related cases in 2011.
The NDLEA boss said though Opioids were most common group of substances causing the death as well as crimes committed by people who need money to finance drug abuse. He, however, stated that drug addiction is both preventable and treatable.
Giade had reeled out NDLEA’s score sheet, scoring self high. In 2013, a total of 3,271 drug dependent persons comprising of 3,062 males and 209 females were successfully counseled in NDLEA facilities nationwide.
Beyond NDLEA’s self adulation over drug abuse handling, this year’s celebration of the World Drug Day has indeed re-opened issues that should bother every forward looking society that is committed to containing the menace of mental health and criminality.
It is more so because issues of the prevalence of banned and illicit drugs, the use of non-prescribed drugs and self medication have become rather endemic in our society. Sadly, those who deal on the substances have targeted the Youth.
Notwithstanding the vigorous efforts of the NDLEA and the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in the war against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, the failure of many Nigerians to join in the campaign has become worrisome as it is a major problem.
Even more worrisome is the proliferation of fake and counterfeit drugs which has been given impetus by the failure of people to confirm or use only confirmed drugs.
It is against this backdrop that The Tide urges strict vigilance on the part of government and the general public as a good number of persons have died and more are still dying of abuse of drugs. But even worse is the use of psychotropic drugs that easily embolden youths to engage in criminality.
Perhaps, another area to worry about is the resort to herbal treatments because of the perception that the orthodox drugs are either fake or ineffective. This is why we expect that the health enlightenment campaign against unwholesome drugs would be sustained even at the rural areas.
It is only when these measures are taken into account and addressed that the World Drug Day would have made any meaning. Even so, this is a phenomenon that challenges the world as a whole. It is a problem that parents and institutions that deal with young persons must decide to address head on.
Perhaps, we should also note that government may need to do more in the control of un-wholesome drugs. It is clear that the drugs available are the ones people always patronise, hence if efforts will be made to ensure that authentic drugs become widely available and affordable, no one will go for the fake.