Drug abusers: Victims or criminals?

Drug abuse is a global menace prevalently among youths and it is the rising cause of mental illness in the world.

According to Mr Ifeanyi Atueyi, a pharmacist and publisher, Pharmanews, he defined drug abuse to be a compulsive, excessive, and self-damaging use of habit forming drugs or substances, leading to addiction or dependence, serious physiological injury (such as damage to kidneys, liver, heart) and/or psychological harm (such as dysfunctional behaviour patterns, hallucinations, memory loss), or death. Also called substance abuse.

Statistics by relevant health organisations globally have shown that drug abuse has reached a new height and urgent measure must be taken to curb the scourge.

Recently, there was a nationwide cry for the ban of codeine after reports confirmed that it is one of the most abusive drugs in Nigeria.

But apart from codeine, research according to a report made available by the President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakasai, on the common pharmaceutical drugs of abuse revealed that like codeine, cannabis, tramadol, flunitrazepam, nicotine, alcohol, diazepam, bromazepam, methamphetine and amphetamine are also abusive substances.

In a pharmacy and media partnership workshop for improving quality of drug abuse related report at the Pharmacy House, Lagos, Pharm Yakasai explained that the PSN, Narcotics and Drug Abuse Committee as well as state branches across the country have been educating people on the danger of drug abuse.

“… We believe that with utmost commitment from all stakeholders, we can reduce drug abuse to the lowest ebb. Our focus should be more on prevention of abuse as well as treatment of drug addiction in various parts of the country.

“Pharmacists are actively engaged to see policy changes and enhanced regulations/legislations that will enhance the distribution, sale, control and use of pharmaceutical drugs of abuse.

“Banning or suspension of marketing licenses or sale of these products is not in the best interest of controlling and or managing the pharmaceutical drug abuse situation currently on our hands as it would only result in drugs becoming more expensive as users and sellers go underground and difficult to track,” he said.

Secondary school and teenagers are not left out in the show of abuse of drugs in Nigeria and indeed, other parts of the world.

A survey carried out by Matthew Onoja, Pathfinder International, Nigeria on the prevalence of substance abuse among secondary school (public and private) students in Jos, capital of Plateau State, showed that the prevalence of substance abuse was 22.1 per cent and 15.3 per cent among students of private and public secondary schools, respectively.

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The study also found that even though one or both parents of over half of the students sampled for both schools (52 per cent for the private school and 52.3 per cent for the public school) indulge in one form or the other of substance intake, there is no statistical correlation between parental use of substances and influence on respondents to abuse substances.

Also, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said there were now (2016) more than 29 million people suffering from drug use disorders worldwide; well up on the 27 million reported a year ago.

Every June 26 is set aside to mark International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and the theme for 2018 is Listen first- listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe.

Pharm Yakasai explained that it is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug abuse that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the wellbeing of children and youths, their families and communities.

It is noteworthy to mention that majority of adults, who engage in drug abuse, do so in all consciousness and with the aim of getting ‘high’.

They count on drug abuse to help their low self esteem, confidence, loneliness, perception among their peers. They also abuse drugs to perpetrate heinous acts in the community, researches have proven.

In view of this, could drug abusers be said to be victims or criminals as their actions or inactions when under the influence of drugs have wrecked lots of havoc in the world over.

The PSN president explained that drug abusers, by some stretch as pictured by the United Nations and other agencies are victims of challenging health condition that need urgent help and rehabilitation rather than criminalising them.

He explained that the aim is not to condemn users, but to help them retrace their steps by helping through recovery path, which only rehabilitation can bring.

Also, former president of the United States, Barack Obama, while speaking at a drug summit in Atlanta explained that “For too long we’ve viewed drug addiction through the lens of criminal justice; the most important thing to do is reduce demand. And the only way to do that is to provide treatment – to see it as a public health problem and not a criminal problem.”