Senate Initiates 2 Bills To Fight Drug Abuse
Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has disclosed that the Senate has developed two draft bills for legislation to tackle the menace, just as he said that this was an outcome of the roundtable put in place by him in December last year in Kano on the rising drug abuse in the country.
Results from the latest NOI Poll showed that 9 in 10 Nigerians believe the highest abusers of drugs and substance are teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 29 years old.It has also emerged true from this poll that the most abused substance in Nigeria is marijuana.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his Media Office, the proposed bills are: National Drug Control Bill and National Mental Health Bill.
It said that the Drug Control Bill seeks to clarifies the mandate and strengthen the capacity of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and other relevant law enforcement and regulatory bodies to eradicate the illicit production, and trafficking of controlled substances.
It also seeks to establishe a central mechanism to facilitate collaboration among law enforcement, regulatory and public health authorities in line with the National Drug Control Policy.
The Bill further focuses on proactive law enforcement and regulatory measures towards the eradication of the illicit importation, production and trafficking of controlled substances. It also criminalizes the diversion, distribution or otherwise dispensing of controlled substances without a prescription or license On mental health bill, the statement noted that, in recognition of the fact that psychosocial issues are the key drivers for the abuse of psychoactive substance, the Bill was crafted to ensure that standard facilities are available in every state to provide mental health and substance abuse services.
The proposed law guarantees the protection of the rights of people with mental illness and stipulates that mental health practitioners and facilities no longer engage in practices that are harmful to people with mental health and substance use disorders.
In recognizing the low number of mental health practitioners in the country with the ratio of practitioners at one psychiatrist to 1.6 million people, the draft law makes provision for quality mental health and substance abuse services available for women and adolescents, who are an underserved segment of the population.
Commenting on the draft bills, Saraki said a provision for stiffer sanctions would be made in the bills as proactive mechanism in the prevention of drug trafficking and abuse. He pledged the commitment of the Senate in the speedy passage of the bills to give a legal framework to help mitigate drug abuse in the country. Saraki vows to curb drug abuse through legislation October 1, 2017
Vanguard
