BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Public health experts and anti-substance abuse campaigners have warned against the dangers of drugs abuse.
They gave the warning on Sunday at the at the Third Scientific Week and commemoration of the 2021 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, with the theme ‘Share Facts On Drugs, Save Lives’ organised by the Abuja branch of the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria.
Yomi Odunuga, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Deputy President of the Senate, indicated in a statement that they cautioned Nigerians, especially food vendors, to desist from using paracetamol as tenderiser in cooking meat and beans, saying it can cause kidney and liver failure.
While making reference to the recent killing of Super TV CEO, Usifo Ataga by 21-year-old Chidinma Ojukwu under the influence of hard drugs and alcohol, the experts listed commonly abused drugs in Nigeria to include cannabis, cocaine, rohypnol (roofies), tramadol, amphetamine, heroin, diazepam, codeine and cough syrup.
Speaking at the event, Chairman, AHAPN, Abuja Branch, Dr. Abubakar Danraka warned against abuse of rohypnol also known as roofies, date rape drug, forget me drug among others.
He decried what he called ‘chaotic distribution system’ where hawkers and unlicensed patent medicine vendors dispense drugs to citizens, even as he warned against cooking with Paracetamol.
The public health expert explained that even though rohypnol is used for controlling depression and calming down over-excited people, individuals abuse it by combining it with other substances.
He stated that: “The complications of drug abuse is that most of the victims tell you one thing but when you assess and evaluate it, it is another. It is not only rohypnol that can give you that kind of reaction; it is a cocktail. Rohypnol is not the problem. It is what they use in conjunction with the rohypnol They use a cocktail of agents: LSDs, tramadol in high doses.
“Some studies have shown how food vendors are using high dose of Paracetamol to hasten commercial cooking. The danger is that you are killing your kidney at a higher rate. Because the ultimate effect is that we are now having higher cases of kidney and renal failures as a result of these consumptions,” he said.
Adding his voice, chairman of the event, Chief of Staff to the Deputy President of the Senate, Pharmacist Otive Igbuzor, expressed worry that the rate of drug abuse in Nigeria is about thrice the global average of 5.3 percent.
Igbuzor stressed the need to share research findings, evidence-based data and life-saving facts to combat the menace of drug abuse.
He said: “Statistics show that drug abuse affects the youth more as 70 percent of drug abusers in Nigeria are youth. A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2018 indicated that 14.4 percent or 14.3 million people aged 15 and 64 years in Nigerian abuse drugs. This is very high compared to global annual prevalence of 5.6 percent. In Nigeria, the increased incidence of armed banditry, terrorism and murder are associated with drugs.”
In his keynote address, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), lamented that 90 per cent of criminalities in Nigeria is linked to drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
Represented by Mrs Chizoba Etuka, the former Military Administrator of Lagos State solicited the support of everyone in tackling the menace while identifying the dangers of drug abuse to include incapacitation of work force of organisations, ruining of communities and societies, disintegration of families among others.
“It needs to be stressed that the far-reaching implications of substance abuse in our society should not be underestimated. It ruins the lives of our young children, influences criminal activities, contributes to the spread of sexually transmitted infections including HlV/AIDS, health consequences, poverty, domestic violence and other forms of violence and in fact every facet of our society and necessitates our urgent attention.
“We have to act with determination now to put an end to substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking. The business of fighting against drugs and crime needs to become the priority on the mind of every Nigerian,” he advised.
