Pharmacist Blames Law Enforcement Agencies for Rising Cases of Drug Abuse
Lack of sincerity in the enforcement of national drug laws by the agencies responsible for fighting t illicit drugs has been identified as an inhibitive factor to a successful war against drug abuse in the country.
The chairman, Kano state chapter of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP), Pharm. Yusuf M. Gidado stated this yesterday at the 10th annual symposium of the association in Kano.
.jpg)
He said with the numerous regulatory agencies and millions of naira being spent on their activities the fight against drugs and substance abuse remains unabated and thus called on government to hold the bull by the horn and address the menace of substance abuse among youths.
“With respect to the issue of regulation I think Nigeria can bust of being among the countries with good policies on drugs, we don’t lack these policies, but what we lack is enforcement, and sincerity on the part of those people and agencies that are given the mandate fight these drugs; we have situation where people are even accusing security agents” he claimed.
Kano state commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Hamza Umar appealed to all and sundry to join hands in fighting the menace of drug abuse saying government alone cannot do it.
He said in “NDLEA we deal purely with illicit drugs, the UN class A prohibited drugs such as the heroine, Cocaine, the Indian hemp and the likes. But if I see you with codeine and tramadole and you have your medication so what, we only intervene in this kind of situation if there is diversion from those people that are supposed to handle it to the useless people that kill our children.”
By: Richard P. Ngbokai, Kano
Daily Trust News
