The Commander of Narcotics, Oyo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Olayinka Joe-Fadile, said that investing in the prevention of drug abuse and illicit trafficking is a lot better than arrests and seizures that happen all the time.
Commander Joe-Fadile stated this on Wednesday at an event held to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The year’s theme of the Day, a brainchild of the United Nations, was entitled: “The Evidence Is Clear, Invest In Prevention.”
The event, which took place at the House of Chiefs, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State, was facilitated by the Oyo State Drug Abuse Control Committee, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Oyo State Command.
At the programme were representatives of all commands of security agencies in the state, the State Ministry of Health, stakeholders, students and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, among others.
Saying that World Drug Abuse Day is commemorated every year on June 26, to raise awareness against drug abuse and trafficking, the Commander disclosed that to achieve this, over 100,000 people were reached in the last one year in awareness programmes that had gone to 378 different locations in 33 LGAs in the state.
Joe-Fadile stated further that this year’s theme called for advocating investment by stakeholders, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and government bodies in the prevention of drug abuse and trafficking, which is better than cure.
He spoke on the empowerment of communities, where the drug users and barons are residents, with requisite knowledge for them to join in the prevention of drug abuse.
“Dialogue and collaboration should also be facilitated. This year, we have been encouraged to open dialogue with stakeholders, students, graduates, law enforcement agencies, and everybody.
“After the dialogue, we come to a conclusion and collaborate… We also promote evidenced-based policymaking that will help in prevention,” the Commander further stated.
Saying that the question had always been pushed to NDLEA on what is being done to the social media being used as outlets to showcase hard drugs, the Commander responded: “The answer is simple: NDLEA does not control the social media. The National Broadcasting Commission is the one controlling it and it should help us stop the promotion of drug abuse in social media.”
In a lecture, a professor of Psychiatry and Addictive Medicine, at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Victor Lasebikan, advocated a health education awareness programme towards the target population as primary prevention to reduce the use of illicit drugs.
Lasebikan also said that secondary prevention should be aimed at early identified prompt treatment of cases, as the goal would help in reducing the prevalence.
He added that motivational interviews should be done as a therapeutic approach to a person-centred, non-confrontational style that would assist the youth in exploring different facets of use patterns.
In his welcome remarks, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, state Ministry of Health, Moses Adewole, said that the objective of the committee is to produce a drug-free society due to the effect of its trafficking and abuse.
With the money yearly used in rehabilitating victims, he said that the federal government had enacted a policy to control the cultivation, production, distribution and use of certain psychoactive substances.
He stated further that despite this, people from all walks of life still abuse drugs.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetumobi, in her speech, reminded the gathering of the devastating effects of drugs on individuals, families and communities.
Ajetumobi said that going by this year’s theme, prevention is the most effective way to address drug abuse, adding that by investing in prevention, demand for drugs could be reduced while there would be support for healthier choices and the building of safer communities.
She stated further that the state government had taken proactive steps to curb the drug menace by inaugurating a drug abuse control committee in all 33 Local Government Areas, including drug abuse control in the school curriculum and inauguration of drug-free clubs in over 150 schools, among others.
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