Drug Abuse: NGO expresses concern over use of strange substances to “get high”

News Agency Of Nigeria

February 2, 2019 6:01 PM

Vanguard Against Drug Abuse (VGADA), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has expressed over the use of strange substances to get intoxicated by some Nigerian youths.

Tramadol and codeine are some of the substances that have taken the attention of youths in Nigeria. A May 2018 report by the BBC highlights the harmful effect of codeine use captured in a documentary "Sweet Sweet Codeine".

Executive Director of the organisation, Dr Hope Abraham said this in interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

He said the youths had deviated from the use of known substances like marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and others.

He said that they now engage in the use of human grey hair, used sanitary pads and some herbs to get high.

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The number of drug addicts in communities is on the increase, for me, it is dangerous to us as a nation.

Recently, the organisation discovered that youths now take human grey hair mixed with marijuana to get intoxicated.

How can someone think of taking human grey hair in the first place and then now think of adding it with cannabis sativa popularly known as marijuana.

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You will agree with me that addiction is a disease that needs to be addressed as soon as possible before it gets deeper into our youths.

And then, it was recently discovered again that youths take liquid content of used sanitary pads soaked for about 10 days.

This is not only dangerous to their health but also going to affect the future of the country.

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If we allow this ugly trend to continue. We will look for reliable hands that will give us purposeful leadership in the nearest future and we wont find any, he said.

The executive director also urged stakeholders to support government in its quest to end the menace of drug abuse in the society.