29.4 million Nigerians abuse drugs — NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said that no fewer than 29.4 million Nigerians aged between 15 and 64 years abuse psychoactive substances and other dangerous drugs.

NDLEA further said, “One in every four drug abusers is a female.”

The Anambra State Commandant of NDLEA, Mrs Florence Ezeonye, stated this on Wednesday in Awka during a ceremony to mark this year’s United Nations international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

She said ”The truth on ground indicates that our society needs to do more in the area of creating awareness of the damaging effects of drug abuse on human health. The drug use and health survey of 2018 captured that 14.4 per cent of the country’s drug use prevalence is almost three times the global average of 5.6 per cent.

“What is more disturbing is that the drug abuse cuts across all ages, gender, socioeconomic status and regions. From the survey, 14.3million Nigerians aged 15-64 years use psychoactive substances such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and heroin, while 10.6 million abuse cannabis. Also, 4.6 million others abuse pharmaceutical opioids such as codeine, tramadol, methamphetamine and morphine, among others.

“It is worrisome to know that drug use was common among those aged 25-39 years. The age of initiation for heroin was 22 years, while the age for cannabis sativa was 19 years. Notably these age groups comprise young people who are either in secondary or tertiary institutions or are on the cusp of graduation.

“To simplify the report of the survey, young people are overwhelmingly the majority of drug abusers in Nigeria,” she added.   (Nigerian Tribune)