FEDERAL GOVERNMENT URGED TO CONTROL DRUG ABUSE

Lagos

The Federal Government have been advised to set up policies and
programmes to control drug abuse as it is currently doing for HIV/AIDS
scourge in the country.

A communique issued at the end of a three-day workshop on the link
between drug abuse and HIV/AIDS organised by the United Nations Office
for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicated that the problem of drug abuse
has been in existence in Nigeria since the 1960s even before it gained
international prominence.

The workshop pointed out that it is imperative that the problem of
drug production and trafficking be addressed in order to check the
availability of drugs especially amphetamines and the gateway drugs
(cigarette and alcohol).

The communique advised the government to properly fund agencies and
bodies involved in regulation of the use of drugs and also support
them with legislative backing.

"There is need for paradigm shift from IDU (Injecting Drug Use) alone
to other non-IDU drug abusers and other forms of human behaviour that
have for some time been neglected", it noted.

The communique recommended that there was a need for UNODC to
strengthen relationships with other relevant bodies by jointly
creating drug managing/drug and HIV/AIDS-free centres in educational
institutions since they form the bulk of the vulnerable groups.

It stressed that there was the need for more advocacies to demonstrate
their commitment on issues of drug abuse and crime as it relates to
the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Among other recommendations are that the UNODC should provide funding
for more research into drug abuse and crime in Nigeria.