Mr John Bamikole, Principal Officer, Narcotics Substance Directorate, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), during a community awareness campaign on drug abuse and misuse organised by the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, on Wednesday, tasked parents to properly monitor their children’s activities.
“When last did you go to your children’s room to check the content of their bags?’’ he asked
“Farm parties exist where people put things in the vent of their air conditioners, which spread drugs that affect people.
“There is need for people to wake up to their responsibilities and be their brothers’ keepers so that the menace will be eradicated completely.’’ he said.
Bamikole listed weight gain or loss, constant deep sleep, deteriorating physical appearance, unusual smell and impaired coordination as some signs of drug abuse.
The NDLEA Assistant Director, Drug Abuse Preventive Education (DAPE), Mrs Stella Ngwoke, also called on parents and communities to monitor youths against drug abuse.
Ngwoke who spoke on “The Role of NDLEA in Combating Drug Abuse in the Country’’ said that most youths who abuse drugs would deny doing so. She described illicit drugs as any substances that could transformed the central nervous system and affect the person’s behaviour or thought.
“Parents need to face the challenges their children are experiencing as regards drug abuse by checking their activities.
“Denial of drug abuse by their children is a problem that must also be faced by parents if they want this menace to be eradicated easily.
“Parents should not be too tired to listen and pay attention to their needs because once they lose faith in you, they can never confide in you’’ Ngwoke said.
Ngwoke explained the effect of drug abuse on the abuser, the family and the society and how misuse could lead to crime. A person that abuses drugs she said, should not be taken as a criminal but as a sick person. She also said that the agency was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Education to infuse drug education in the curriculum of secondary schools.
“The NDLEA, in combating drug abuse, has introduced two strategies: the supply reduction – which has to do with reducing drugs in the society, and the demand reduction.”Ngwoke added.
The Chairman, Obele Odan Community Development Area in Surulere, Mr Yusuf Osagie, called for proper enforcement of the law against illicit drugs peddling.
“Drug abuse is not desirable in any society, and should be discouraged, it can lead to fragmentation in the family, and also death.
“Parents should pay attention to what their children are doing and know the kind of friends they keep,’’ Osagie advised.
