Repentant addict offers path to successful drug war
Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Budo Egba, Kwara State, Dr. Issa Baba Awoye, has lamented the increasing use of synthetic drugs among youths.

He decried that the development has become a growing public health and security concern in recent years.

Addressing the Second Kwara Stakeholders’ Summit on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, titled, “The Neuropsychiatric Consequences of Synthetic Drug Abuse: A Clinical Perspective”, Awoye said the country has seen a rise in the production, trafficking and consumption of synthetic drugs, particularly among young people.

He listed the synthetic drugs as tramadol, codeine cough syrup, methamphetamine (meth), Rohypnol and ecstasy, among others.

His words: “These drugs, often cheaper and more accessible than traditional narcotics, pose significant risks to individuals and society.”

He identified corruption within law enforcement and regulatory agencies as the bane of efforts to control the drug trade in the country, adding that inadequate resources for drug control and rehabilitation programmes also restrict effectiveness.

The summit was organised by the Office of the Special Assistant to the Governor on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, Mukail Aileru, and themed, “Synthetic Drug Crisis: United for a Safer Kwara.”

The expert advised that synthetic drug use requires a multifaceted approach, including stronger law enforcement, public education, improved funding and improved access to treatment and rehabilitation services.

Noting that social stigma around drug addiction prevents many from seeking help, he, therefore, called on people to shun stigma, adding: “Addressing the root causes of drug abuse such as poverty and unemployment, is critical to reducing the demand for these drugs.

“We need to kill the use of psychoactive synthetic drugs before it sends us to a point of uselessness.”

In his remarks, Aileru said the state government was committed to tackling the growing menace of drug abuse, particularly the rising crisis of synthetic drugs, which, he said “poses a significant threat to public health, security, and the future of our youth.”

MEANWHILE a repentant drug addict in Ilorin, Kwara State, Omoh Hussein, has submitted that the war against illicit drug peddling and use in the country would not succeed unless it is taken to hotels and other hospitality facilities.

He added that security agents, including men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NAFDAC,) the police and other personnel, often compromise when they come raiding their hideouts.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday at the Second Kwara Stakeholders’ Summit on Drug Abuse, Prevention and Control in Ilorin, Hussein, linked the rising cases of drug peddling and abuse to the country’s poor socioeconomic conditions observed: “The government is just looking in the wrong direction in the fight against drug war.”

He said while the security personnel and operatives were combing the hideouts of poor users, “the real users are out there in the hotels and other relaxation facilities.”

“They often send us on errands to get ‘colos’, cannabis and other banned substances. If the government is serious about this war, it must extend it to those areas,” Hussein added.

He revealed that “even some security operatives from NAFDAC and policemen sent after us (common users) often demand drugs from them as a means of settlement.”

“When they arrest us, they will ask if we have drugs to bail ourselves. Sometimes, we do and at times, too we don’t. When we have, we give and when we don’t, they go away after financial settlement,” he stated.