More Nigerian women going into drug abuse – NDLEA

More Nigerian women going into drug abuse – NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has expressed worry that more Nigerian women are getting involved in drug abuse.

Indeed, the agency said a recent survey showed that one out of four Nigerians involved in the abuse is a woman.

According to the agency, about 14.3 million Nigerians are involved in drug abuse.

Ogun state Commander of the NDLEA, Ibiba Odili, revealed this during the launch of the War Against Drug Abuse in Abeokuta on Saturday.

She said those in drug abuse are within the age bracket of 15 and 64 years.

Odili decried the alarming trend of the involvement of women in drug abuse in the country.

She said, “2018 survey tells us that the most common drug abused in Nigeria is cannabis, which regrettably is cultivated mostly in the southwest region of Nigeria.

“That, one out of every four drug users is a woman. In  2018, data shows that more women are going into drug use. And if more women are going into drug use, it is a source of worry for us, because;

“…it means that the traditional role of women in families and communities as caregivers, role models, and live moulders will be threatened; because what quality of children are these women going to raise?”

She explained that Nigeria transformed from a mere transit country for drug trafficking to a major consumer and even producer of illicit substances.

She said, “We started by being a transit country, consuming maybe cannabis, alcohol, and all of that, then, we graduated to heroin, cocaine.

“But today, regrettably, Nigeria is not just transit, we are huge consumers, and we are not just cultivator of cannabis, we are now producing drugs, such as methamphetamine, which is highly addictive, very potent.”