The Nasarawa State House of Assembly yesterday organised a public hearing on a bill for a “Law to Prohibit Substance Abuse and to Provide Treatment for Substance Abusers and Addicts 2021”.
The Chairman, House Committee on Health, Mr Labaran Shafa, said that the public hearing was organised to get inputs from the stakeholders on the bill.
The lawmaker said that the bill, if finally passed into law, would prohibit substance abuse and provide treatment for substance abusers.
Shafa, who represents Toto/Gadabuke constituency at the state legislature, said that substance abuse had affected the lives of many youths and other Nigerians negatively, hence the need for all hands to be on deck to tackle it.
“This bill is a private member bill sponsored by Assemblyman Abdulaziz Danladi of Keffi East constituency and this bill has passed second reading at the floor of the House.
“Assemblyman Ibrahim Abdullahi has directed that a public hearing should be organised to get public inputs on the bill so that we will get the best out of it.
“We have invited you to get your opinion and inputs on the bill so that by the time we pass the bill, it will generally be accepted by the people,” he said.
Shafa commended the stakeholders for their inputs and assured them of the committee’s readiness to take their inputs into consideration before passing the bill into law.
Also speaking, Dr Ikrama Hassan, the Chief Medical Director, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, described the bill as excellent and timely.
He commended the sponsor of the bill for the initiative which he said would go a long way in addressing a lot of societal problems.
The Tide source reports that other health experts and stakeholders who spoke during the public hearing called for the establishment of a rehabilitation and skill acquisition centre for drug abusers and addicts.
They also called for more awareness campaign against substance abuse to discourage people from drug abuse, especially the dealers and end users for the overall development of the country.