NAFDAC, NDLEA, Customs pledge collaboration against drug abuse among youths 

• Nigeria will not support legalisation of Cannabis sativa, says NAFDAC boss
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Nigeria Customs Service have pledged to collaborate in the fight against illicit drug production, trafficking, and use as well as in curbing related organised crimes.

The pledge was made in Lagos at the launch and dissemination of the 2022 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Precursors Report 2022.

Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who described narcotics and psychotropic substances as indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering, said the drugs are controlled within the framework of the three international conventions as they possess abuse liability and produce dependence on users.

She said: “The drugs are classified not on chemical nature but on the potential for abuse and the need for medical use of the substance.

“One of the control objectives is to ensure availability solely for medical and scientific uses while minimising the possibility of diversion to illicit channels and abuse.

“The policy thrust of the Agency is to ensure availability, access and rational use while preventing illicit use and abuse. The international drug control conventions are thus interpreted to mean improved access to controlled medicines to enable countries to meet their drug needs.”

To ensure adequate availability of controlled medicines, the NAFDAC boss disclosed that the Agency in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health carried out two quantifications of narcotics and estimation of psychotropic substances and precursors in 2017 and 2019.
She said the results of these surveys provide the evidenced-based estimation of national annual requirements of these substances and enable the country to develop measures to achieve that delicate balance between access and control.

Prof Adeyeye pointed out that the challenges arising from drug supply and consumption are not restricted to people who use drugs but have wider health, social and economic consequences on the family, community, and country.

The report, she stated further, revealed that Cannabis is the most commonly used drug, stressing that an estimated 10.8 per cent of the population or 10.6 million people, had used cannabis in the past year with the average age of initiation of cannabis use among the general population put at 19 years.

She, however, said Nigeria will not support the trend of legalisation of cannabis for non-medical use as Nigeria lacks the financial capacity to fight cultivation, production and illegal use of the substance.

The non-medical use of Cannabis Sativa, according to Prof. Adeyeye, contravenes the United Nations Single Convention of 1961, which classifies cannabis as a highly addictive substance.

Also, Executive Chairman of NDLEA, Brigadier General, Buba Marwa (retd), has decried the upsurge in abuse of Cannabis  sativa among youths with its attendant negative effects on society.

Marwa, who was represented by Mrs. Victoria Ekase, noted that NAFDAC has been ensuring that controlled drug essential for human survival are made available for use where necessary in line with the requirements of INCB, adding that NDLEA on its own part collaborates with NAFDAC in ensuring that the measures put in place to prevent diversion of such medicines and substances to illicit use are adhered to.

Marwa pledged NAFDAC and NDLEA collaboration with major stakeholders to develop an efficient value-chain and support system that will ensure access to narcotics and controlled substances for medical and strategic purposes, while preventing diversion for illicit use.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Alli (Retd),  who was represented at the event by Acting Assistant Comptroller General, ACG, A.N Dappa, also commended NAFDAC, stressing that collaboration between  NAFDAC and NDLEA have been most wonderful.

He pledged support of Customs service in the task of ridding the nation of illicit drugs. ‘’We have always been in partnership, and we will continue to work in close partnership with you,’’ he said.