How The COVID-19 Pandemic Might Be Worsening Drugs And Substance Abuse In Nigeria
Panelists at the just concluded virtual event organized by MTN to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking celebrated on June 26, included Adedokun Adedeji, the Director General of Christ Against Drug Abuse Ministry (CADAM) who works closely with people living with substance use disorders and Oliver Stolpe, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
According to Adedokun, there is hardly any drug available anywhere else in the world that is not accessible in Nigeria. He shares that the most commonly used drug in Nigeria is cannabis, however more synthetic strains like “colorado” are also gaining popularity.
He describes colorado as “synthetic marijuana”, because chemicals are usually mixed to create the sought after feeling. The need to resort to synthetic drugs is especially necessitated by the pandemic and attendant lockdown. These synthetic drugs are easier to come by and are also cheap.
He emphasizes the role that parents play in curbing this menace. Parents are largely unaware of what drugs are available to their children and the way that the children may cloak the drugs and their usage.
“We need to talk about drugs everyday, whether in the church, mosques, schools, everywhere, on TV, but not in a way that makes them fantasize about it.”
He shares his apprehension at the young age of drug use in Nigeria “the age of use is coming down, we’re having 8, 10 year olds using drugs. It’s worrisome.”
According to Oliver Stolpe, the UNODC conducted a drug use survey in Nigeria in 2018, the results indicated that more than 40 million adults in Nigeria used drugs at least once in the preceding year. The survey also showed that about 3 million people were already living with a drug use disorder which means that they will be needing treatment to combat the addiction.
A poll conducted by the UNODC in partnership with UNICEF on how COVID-19 was affecting drug use, confirmed fears that drug use was spreading wider due to the pandemic and its socio-economic impact. Among the 90,000 youths that responded to the poll, 51% confirmed that they knew someone that had used drugs at least once during the pandemic and about half of the respondents believed that drug use had gotten worse since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Stolpe expressed concerns that the budget which would have been made available by the government to provide for drug abuse treatment and prevention programmes is going to be reduced. “At the stage where all the indicators are pushing people more likely to drug use, we’re actually spending less to help them.”
