LAGOS AND THE HARD DRUGS MENACE

Recent wide-spread abuse of hard drugs and its negative implications in
Lagos have become a serious source of concern in the metropolis.

THREE men were seated at the wooden bench provided by the road-side petty
trader near the under-bridge at Airport Bus Stop, Lagos when a young fellow
sauntered in with a lighted stick of marijuana in his right hand. He blew
the marijuana smoke at this reporter's face and immediately apologised.

Sporting a T-shirt with red and white stripes, a blue pair of jeans trousers
with a cap to match, he drew another lungful of marijuana smoke and
requested for a glass of paraga, (a locally brewed gin mixed with roots and
herbs) from the petty trader. While he smoked and drank, with his right
hand, his left palm clutched a thick sheaf of naira notes of various low
denominations. He puffed the marijuana few more times and threw away what
could pass for the butt of the weed which was wrapped like a cigarette.
Within a jiffy he dashed back to the nearby bus stop.

Two weeks earlier when our reporter visited the same spot, he met a group of
people including a man in police uniform who were smoking marijuana. A
source in the area said that many policemen including trainees at the Police
College Ikeja which is a short distance away, were regular callers at the
spot. A close observation of the area revealed that some of the regular
callers were touts and beggars. There is also an insane fellow who loiters
around.

Smoking with music

Last Saturday at Agbado station, a suburb of Lagos, a group of marijuana
smokers were treated to a rendition of Hausa music at a spot called Orita
Junction located behind a line of shops parallel to the railway line near
the market. The pungent odour of the burning weed could be smelt at other
sections of the market.

Apart from this group, several bands of touts could be seen smoking
marijuana at the open space behind the small garage near the market at all
times of the day. Passers-by only attract furtive glances from them.

However, smokers of the weed at a spot opposite the Central Medical Library
at Yaba-Lagos always try to hide from public view while puffing away. But
this measure usually fails to conceal the strong smell of the weed within
the vicinity. As a result of this, regular passers-by in the area are very
often confronted with thick clouds of marijuana smoke oozing from a spot
behind a wire fence where a newly established Federal agency is located. The
situation is the same in many parts of Lagos: Marijuana is now openly smoked
in motor garages, bus stops and along the streets of the metropolis.

Investigations by our reporter have revealed that indeed, the consumption of
Indian hemp has continued to rise in recent times in Lagos.

The situation has become a source of concern to many Nigerians and several
governmental and non-governmental organisations in the country. Penultimate
week, the Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Alhaji
Bello Lafiagi expressed serious concern over the situation. Although, he did
not say so, Lafiagi tacitly admitted that there was a rise in abuse of hard
drugs in the country. The NDLEA boss was at the event to mark the United
Nations Day Against Illicit Drug Trafficking and Abuse held at Abuja, the
Federal capital, lamented that many mental disorders among Nigerians today
is traceable to drug abuse. He was worried that there was a high rate of
persons suffering from mental disorders admitted into psychiatric hospitals
across the country. He also complained that majority of those affected were
youths.

According to him: "It is worthy of note that majority of patients admitted
into mental institutions for drug related problems were youths in their
productive years".

Commenting on the situation while speaking to Vanguard Features (VF), the
Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the NDLEA, Mr. Jonas Achema, lamented
that despite his agency's intensified efforts to eradicate production,
distribution and consumption of hard drugs in the country, there has been a
steady rise in the number of persons involved in drug abuse.

According to him: "We started with 300 cases of addicts three years ago but
it has climbed to over 2000 cases annually." He said many dealers on indian
hemp have also been arrested within the period.

Marijuana scourge

Said he: " This year we have seized over five tons of Indian hemp in Lagos
alone. We have also cumulatively destroyed over 10 tons of the weed". He
explained that the agency has concentrated so far on the arrest of big time
dealers on the weed".

"In the last three years we have successfully arrested and jailed over 2000
dealers on hard drugs".

He stated that the agency has resorted to this strategy in order to break
the back bone of the suppliers so that it would be difficult for the
peddlers to find the weed.

Achema told this reporter that NDLEA does not jail consumers of indian hemp
but rather refers them to counselling centres in different parts of the
country.

Said he: "The law which set up NDLEA views addicts of hard drugs as victims
rather than offenders." He further stated that if an arrested consumer's
addiction was still at the peripheral level, such a person could be
counselled and released.

"But if the level of addiction has reached a damaging stage, then the
individual would require treatment and rehabilitation. At the extreme level,
such an individual would require reintegration into the society so that he
or she would still be useful," he said. According to him, individuals in
Lagos whose level of drug addiction are considered high are usually referred
to the Lagos Psychiatiric Hospital. A recent trip to the Psychiatric
Hospital in Lagos revealed that a large number of the patients were indeed
youths. It was observed that a large number of the over 70 patients who were
waiting for treatment at the out-patient department were youths whose age
ranged between 17 and 25.

Observers of the health sector believe that many mentally deranged youths
are addicted to Indian hemp and other hard drugs. Experts have also said the
increase in violent crimes and other acts of hooliganism so rampant in Lagos
are traceable to wide-spread drug abuse in the metropolis.

Although there is no data identifying factors responsible for luring
Nigerians into drug abuse, many experts have said that the phenomenon begins
with peer group influence among teenagers. It is believed that most drug
addicts are lured into the habit of consuming these banned substances while
they are still young.

A Consultant Psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital in Lagos, Dr. Rahman
Lawal informed VF that many individuals began to consume hard drugs due to
peer group influence when they were young.

Said he: " At a particular time in the development of children especially
adolescents, they tend to experiment with so many things due to peer
pressure". According to him: "Some of them consume drugs to overcome
feelings of inferiority complex." This view was shared by a clinical
psychologist at the hospital, Mr. Marcellinus Nwaogu. But he explained that
what actually happens is that after consuming these banned substances, these
drugs exert harmful effects on the consumers central nervous systems. This
results in the affected individuals to become dis-inhibited in behaviour.
Such individuals would then be able to do what they wouldn't have been able
to do while they were their normal selves. He pointed out that many touts
and area boys who exhibit aggressive tendencies at the numerous bus stops in
the metropolis, are believed to be drug addicts.

Another problem which has been identified by experts in the unfolding
scenario is that Indian hemp is considered as a gateway drug. What this
means is that abuse of Indian hemp invariably leads to the abuse of harder
drugs like cocaine and heroine. Nwaogu explained that after consuming a
particular drug for some time, an addict may no longer feel high after doing
so. The usual response of drug addicts to this situation is to go for a
harder or step-up drug.

The psychologist said that many drug addicts are multiple drug abusers and
could also resort to use of cheaper step down drugs when they cannot afford
the more expensive types like cocaine or heroine.

Although, he agreed that there is a relationship between the high incidence
of drug abuse and rising number of mentally ill persons, he stated that drug
abuse may not necessary lead to a mental disorder. Said he: "It is true that
more people who consume indian hemp have manifested symptoms of psychiatric
disorder than those who don't consume the drug".

But he pointed out in many cases consumption of Indian hemp and other hard
drugs could be a precipitating factor for mental disorders, adding that a
person who belongs to a family with a history of mental disorder could
easily become insane if he resorts to drug abuse.

Achema told VF that the only way the scourge of drug abuse could be fought
is by enlightening the entire society about its inherent dangers. He
complained that some Nigerians had began abusing certain drugs that were not
classified as banned substances in the law that set up NDLEA.

He asked: "Can you believe that some people in the Northern part of the
country resort to sniffing the steam from pit latrines in order to feel
high?" He said some drug addicts inhale fumes from petrol, correcting fluid
and rubber solution to get the same effect.