Nigerians have been urged to join hands with security agencies to
tackle increasing challenge of illicit drug abuse among youths and
teenagers.
Speaking to journalists in Awka, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Red
Cross Society, Professor Peter Katchy lamented that illicit drug use
and dependency among young people are harming socio-economic life of
the society and threatening the future of the country.
Paul Ezeoke reports that according to recent survey by the Federal Government over fourteen-point three million Nigerians abuse illicit drugs
representing about fourteen –point four percent of the country’s
population who are between fifteen and sixty-four years.
Professor Katchy explained that use of illicit drugs by children and
youths has lasting adverse effects on their mental and physical
development as drug abuse can impact the brains ability to function in
the short term as well as prevent proper growth and development later
in life which creates various problems for families, communities and
the entire society including cultism, armed robbery, prostitution, increase in number of school dropouts, indecent dressing even among married women in the name of fashion even in churches, youth homicides and suicides.
He called on the ministry of Youths and Sports to set up well funded
agency for mass reorientation, character reformation and
rehabilitation of children and youths to fill the increasing gap
created by poor family upbringing of many children while the Film
Censor Board should take more proactive measures to censor films that
promote negative values.
Professor Katchy urged families to strive to inculcate strong moral
values in their children while security agencies should clamdown on
those who abuse gender dressing.
Also speaking, a medical practitioner, Dr. David Onyebuchukwu urged
parents to closely monitor activities of their children and their
friends to protect them against negative peer group influence that
could lead to illicit drug use and attendant consequences.
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