A drug is any chemical substance that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect on the body, it is also any substance which when taken can be a catalyst to the metabolic rate of the body.

Drug abuse is the consumption of drugs apart from medical need or in unnecessary quantities. The drugs or substances abused can be illicit drugs. These illicit drugs range from Cocaine, Heroin, Codeine, Solution, Skonk, Weed, Rochi, Tramol; these are but a few.

Within the last decade, the consumption of hard drugs has risen drastically in Nigeria. Traditional drugs and other substances such as alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines etc. are now being abused. Teenagers and Youths between 15-40 years are more involved in the intake of these drugs. However, the rate of abusers is increasing drastically by the day.

CAUSES FOR DRUG ABUSE

There are different reasons why Youths go into drugs:

 - Peer Influence; this is due to influence from friends, they get tired of seeing their friends doing this and they want to give it a try.

- Fun; this is the set of individuals who call themselves the “adventurous”, they just want to know how it feels to get high.

- Frustration; This is the set of individuals who go into drugs because they have a problem, and the only way they can stop thinking about that problem is by getting themselves high… forgetting that when the high is over, the problem is still there waiting for them.

- Confidence; this is the set who are shy, and persuaded to believe that when they take these drugs, it gives them the ability to face anybody and any challenge that comes their way.

- Strength; this is also a common phenomenon that when you take certain drugs, it gives you the strength to do any kind of job, no matter how tedious or difficult.

- Idleness; this are the set that does not have any job to do, in some cases people who are naturally lazy and do not want to do anything even if they are offered a job; they just believe the only way to kill time is by going on pills.

- Present trends; this set just likes to follow the trends and do what other people are doing, just so they can fit in to the society.
 

It is disheartening to find that drug traffickers and consumers alike are no longer afraid to carry out their activities because the authorities that are supposed to watch and cut down their excesses are also sitting with them in their various posts, a "joint" in their uniforms to smoke weed and skonk; they also go to the illegal "Chemist" to buy these pills. Sometimes we tend to wonder how these pills get into the hands of these consumers because most of these pills are banned from entering Nigeria.

Given the enormous damage soporific do to humanity, no effort should be spared by the government to curb this peril. Another way of repositioning the Agency towards succeeding in its objectives is to ensure that the head of the Agency must have a good personality and an image that characterizes him as someone who is ready for the campaign against drug trafficking. Sufficiently trained and armed personnel with the required experience and expertise should take charge. Further, the agency can raise the stakes of the war against illicit drug business by embarking on a continuous public enlightenment campaign using bill boards, radio/TV, fliers, etc., all with the aim of highlighting the dangers behind the abused drugs. I will suggest that the introduction of the campaign against the use of hard drugs into secondary school curriculum should also be encouraged. The youths need to be deeply indoctrinated with the anti-drug message. This is definitely a war the Nigerian society cannot afford to lose.

It is most heartbreaking to know that there are lots of drugs in circulation which are either adulterated or have no NAFDAC numbers on them. In Nigeria the prevalence of drug abuse is increasing, cannabis, weed, and skonk are the drugs most frequently and widely abused in Nigeria, followed by pills of different kinds, and to some extent heroin and cocaine.

There are several reasons for drugs and substances abuse: psychological and emotional stress such as anxiety, frustration and economic depression, unemployment and social deprivation, it is a belief among some individuals (especially long distance drivers, some law enforcement agents etc.), that soporifics will increase their energy level for long and tedious hours. Other reasons that are linked with drug abuse among youths in Nigeria is the desire to achieve success in a competitive world and peer group pressure, characterized by the desire to be accepted amongst friends and especially in social circles.
 

Among youths that abuse drugs, some of them have an unhealthy appearance, bad hygiene and grooming, red eye balls, black lips due to excess smoking, black or dark fingers, thick speech, memory lapse, difficulty in concentration etc. Note; some of the mentioned symptoms are not necessarily a result of the use of drugs; there are some individual who just naturally look like that.

Drug abuse can be totally overcome and eradicated in Nigeria through Government interventions, and the conscious efforts of parents. Recently the Kano state government has intervened and come up with new rehabilitation schools in Kano, which is meant to mold and rehabilitate the drug-abusing Youths back into shape. The aim is for them to stop the abuse and learn to be self employed, dependent and be able to sustain themselves.

My Advice;

The government and parents has a major role to play in order to curb the menace of youths abusing drugs in the society, parents should check the kind of friends their children move with and also take proper cognizance of their children's health at all time also avoid the use of self medications on themselves and their children. The government should put in place techniques that will enable them to know when the officers they put in charge to watch over drug abusers not to get themselves in the same act they are suppose to stop in the society.

By Frank Oluwafemi