The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has revealed that 10.6 million Nigerian youths abuse Indian hemp and some other hard drugs.
The agency’s chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd) stated this at the 10th anniversary of Realnews, an online magazine held yesterday in Lagos.
Delivering a paper on ‘Drug abuse among youths in Africa: Implications for Nigerian economy and 2023 elections’ Marwa described the incidence of drug abuse among youths as “disturbing.”
“It is disturbing that abusing marijuana and alcohol is the new normal for youths, especially the Gen Z and even the millennial.
“For parents, who are adept at using social media, Snapchat offers graphic details of what our young people are doing with alcohol and psychotropic drugs,” he said.
He blamed the society for the rise in drug abuse among youths.
“Today, you have all sorts of pro-cannabis groups, movements and activists all over the place. They make it seem as if smoking cannabis is innocuous and not dangerous to health, and, therefore, should be an inalienable right of the smoker.
“Even some politicians and institutions, focused on the economic gains of cultivation of cannabis, are ready to liberalise commercialisation of the plant. All of these send mixed messages to young people,” he added.
The NDLEA chief warned that legalisation of cannabis and related substances would spell doom for a country like Nigeria that is still struggling with developmental issues.
Meanwhile, he said since assuming headship of the NDLEA 22 months ago, 19, 341 drug offenders had been arrested, 3,111 convictions obtained while a total of 5.5 million kilogrammes of assorted hard drugs were confiscated during the period in review.
“Previously, many Nigerians found it hard to believe that illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin are trafficked in and out of the country. But NDLEA has made huge seizures and there is no basis for scepticism anymore.
“If anything, NDLEA activities since January 2021 have further reinforced the fact of Nigeria being an important hub in the global illicit drug network, and secondly, that our country is not only a transit pipeline, but also a market,” he added.
