Mohammed Buba Marwa
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has opened up on how Nigeria transitioned as an important hub for illegal drug trafficking globally.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa, Rtd, hinted this at the 10th Anniversary Lecture and Investiture of Realnews Magazine and Publication Limited in Lagos Thursday.
Speaking on the theme, Drug Abuse Among Youths In Africa: Implication For Nigerian Economy And 2023 Election", the NDLEA boss stated that the agency's activities from January 2021 till date, further reinforced that Nigeria is not only a transit pipeline but also a thriving market for hard drugs.
He lamented that Nigerians cannot pretend not to know that young people are abusing illicit drugs due to their overt lifestyle, saying that youths promote drug subculture.
"It is common nowadays to hear them say they want to be high. It is there on the street, songs, chatroom, clubs and parties. Many crave for alcohol and weed as soon as they run into any emotional situation. To put it in their language, as glorified by one popular music, they will tell you I need igbo and shayo", he said.
He regretted that abusing marijuana and alcohol is the new normal for youths, especially the Gen Z and Millenials, adding that Snapchat offers graphic details on how young people are addicted to alcohol and psychotropic drugs.
The NDLEA boss quoted the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, World Drug Reports of 2021 and 2022 as saying that more young people are using drugs compared with previous generations.
He added that young people are consistently using more drugs than adults and have higher levels of use than in past generations.
Marwa also revealed that about 275 million people have used drugs, up by 22 per cent from 2010 and the youths make up 50 percent of the users, noting that there's a 10 per cent prevalence of cannabis use among 15-16-year-old Africans.
He disclosed that the arrest of 19, 341 drug offenders and subsequent conviction of 3, 111 persons, in addition to the seizure of 5.5 million kilograms of assorted drugs in 22 months are incontrovertible facts that Nigeria is deeply entrenched in illicit drug subculture.
"Today, you have all sorts of pro-cannabis groups, movements and activists all over the place that make it seem as if smoking cannabis is innocuous and not dangerous to health, and, therefore, should be an inalienable right of the smoker', he said.
Politicians Ready To Commercialise Hard Drugs
The NDLEA boss regretted that some politicians and institutions that are focused on the economic gains of the cultivation of cannabis, are ready to liberalise the commercialisation of the plant, which inadvertently send mixed messages to young people.
Research revealed that the perceptions of cannabis harm have decreased in areas where the drug has been legalised.
Marwa hinted that in some parts of the world, that cannabis products have almost quadrupled in potency, yet the percentage of adolescents, who perceive cannabis as harmful dropped by 40 per cent, despite the evidence linking regular use to health problems, particularly in young people.
He said that despite the correlation between potency and harm, that young people are vaping, inhaling cannabis-infused shisha and experimenting with synthetic cannabis and other potent variants such as Loud and Colorado, as evidenced in a year-long research conducted by UNODC and published in the annual World Drug Report.
The NDLEA boss stated that findings from the National Drug Use survey released in 2018, indicated that Nigeria is the worlds leading abuser of the psychoactive plant.
10.6m Nigerians Are Drug Addicts
He added that 10.6 million Nigerians, mostly youths are addicted to marijuana and other cannabis derivatives, regretting that some of them were addicted to hard drugs between ages 13 and 17, with the largest pool of users in their early 30s.
Marwa listed other dangerous substances that are frequently abused by young people in Nigeria as crystal methamphetamine, known locally as Mkpuru Mmri, and pharmaceutical opioids, mostly tramadol and codeine, which are used to produce dangerous mixtures like skuchies, that are consumed at parties.
The NDLEA Chief failed to provide insight into the Implication of hard drugs to Nigeria's' economy.
He rather quoted the US statistics as saying that, "In 2007, the economic cost of drug abuse in the United States was estimated at $193 billion. Out of this, lost productivity accounted for $120 billion; while healthcare gulped $11 billion –for drug treatment and drug‐related medical consequences, while the sum of $61 billion was spent on criminal justice, primarily for criminal investigation, prosecution and incarceration, and victim costs."
He pointed out that in 2007, America spent $11 billion on healthcare–for drug treatment and drug‐related medical consequences, saying that Nigeria neither has the health facility nor the money to waste on rehabilitation of drug victims.
Marwa recalled that between January 2021 and October 2022, that NDLEA counselled and rehabilitated over 12, 326 drug users, as over 80 per cent of them were young people.
He said that 19, 341 offenders were arrested within the period under review, just as 3, 111 were convicted in court and 3,500 cases are still pending.
On the consequences for 2023 elections, he added that the social upheaval in Southeast States in the last quarter of 2021 was triggered during the outbreak of the use of methamphetamine.
He disclosed that NDLEA initiated some measures to curb drug abuse such as: One War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, NDLEA Twitter Space, 24/7 Drug Abuse call centre with a toll-free helpline: 0800 1020 3040 and open-door treatment at 26 NDLEA treatment facilities across the country.
Marwa maintained that by 2030, the number of people using drugs will rise by 11 per cent around the world, and as much as 40 per cent in Africa alone.
The Publisher/Editor of Realnews, Ms Maureen Chigbo said that in the last one decade, that the media outfit had investigated and published exclusive stories that covered all sectors such as politics, oil and gas, business and economy, women, youth and environment.
She said that the organisation will continue to raise the bar in journalism practice with the highest sense of responsibility.
Realnews is an online media outfit that thrives on investigative journalism, with a strong commitment to unearth exclusive stories about real people and their challenges while carrying out the much anticipated day-to-day activities.
Chigbo stated that around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in 2021, while over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorders, according to the 2021 World Drug Report that was recently published by UNODC.
She hinted that as at 2018, the National Drug Use Survey revealed that there was around 14.3 million drug users in Nigeria, of which about 3 million suffered from drug-related disorder.
Comments
Post a Comment