Declare State Of Emergency On Drug Abuse – Senate

By James Itodo

The Senate has advocated a state of emergency on drug abuse in the country to check the rising cases of substance abuse by Nigerians.

The Red Chamber also mandated its committee on drugs and narcotics to liaise with relevant agencies of government such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and NAFDAC to convene a national discourse on drug abuse.

This, it believes, is to properly understand the root causes of the crisis to come up with policies and legislations that can help in reducing the menace.

These are the resolutions by the Senate on a motion sponsored by Senator Hussaini Babangida-Uba on the urgent need to address the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.

The lawmaker who represents Jigawa North-West highlighted a report by the United Nations office on drugs and crimes which indicated that Nigeria has about 14.3 million persons between the ages of fifteen and sixty-four that are involved in drug abuse.

Edited By Grace Namiji