Senate Reveals Readiness To Tackle Drug Abuse Among Young Nigerians (LOOK)

Following the increasing number of young Nigerians involved in drug abuse, the Nigerian Senate has called on the federal government to urgently look for ways to handle the situation as so many young and vibrant Nigerians have lost their lives from such practice.

The Senate ho condemned this act during a session on Tuesday, October 10th, 2017, said “Codeine cough syrup and other prescriptive drugs have become as termed, ‘the new cancer ravaging women and girls in the North.’”

This came after Senator Baba Garbai (APC-Borno) adopted a motion during the plenary : “The Need to Check the Rising Menace of Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse among Youths Especially in Northern Nigeria” which was co-sponsored by 37 other lawmakers.

Presenting the motion, Garbai said that drug abuse, especially cannabis and cocaine, had been a long-term problem among male youths in northern states.

According to Garbai, drug abuse, especially of cannabis and cocaine which is prevalent in the Northern part of the country, needs to be addressed as fast as possible.

Also, the  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), had also revealed that the North has consistently had the highest number of drug-related arrests in recent years, with 2,205 cases in 2015.

Garbai said:

“This problem is destroying even the mothers in homes as they use same codeine and other drugs as an escape from their abusive relationships and invariably get hooked on them.”

In his contribution, Senator Ben Bruce (PDP-Bayelsa) said there was the need for the economy to be fixed to create jobs for the youths currently engaging in wrong activities.

He called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to highlight the consequences of drug abuse to help in tackling the menace.

Similarly, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC-Lagos) called for the establishment of more rehabilitation centres for drug users across the country.

The motion was unanimously adopted and the senate mandated its Joint Committee on Drugs and Narcotic and Health to bring a legislative framework needed to intervene and combat drug abuse in the country.