Nigeria: UNODC Launches Policy Publications to Tackle Drug Abuse

In a move to combat hydra-headed problem of drug dependence among millions of Nigerian youths and widespread incidence of drug induced criminality and violence in the country, the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has launched four different publications on important policies and guidelines for controlled medicines and drug dependence treatment.

The publications, which were developed jointly by UNODC, Federal Ministry of Health and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was launched by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole and the NAFDAC Boss, Prof. Moji Christianah Adeyeye under the auspices of UNODC.

The four publications are National policy for Controlled Medicines, National Minimum Standards for Drug Dependence Treatment in Nigeria, National Guidelines on Quantification of Narcotics for Medical and Scientific Purposes and National Guidelines for the Estimation of Psychotropic Substances and Precursors.

UNODC Programme officer, Elisabeth Bayer said the official launch will be followed by a formal roll out in April this year in all the six geo-political zones in the country.

Recall that the aggravated dimension of the problem of drug abuse and it's intricate linkage with wide spread cases of criminality, violence and insurgences in the country recently prompted the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari to launch a national campaign against all forms of abuse. The launch by the wife of the President was followed by a roundtable conference on drug abuse organised by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki even as the NAFDAC Boss, Prof. Adeyeye is joining the fray to flag-off massive drug abuse campaign across the country.

In the recent time, the problem of drug abuse particularly among millions of Nigerian youths and house wives has become major headache in the society because of the havoc caused by the dangerous phenomenon.