Akuskura Photo: NDLEA
Janet Ogundepo
Daily, youths devise new ways to satisfy their cravings for psychoactive substances, and according to psychiatrists, medical and drug experts, this trend is dangerous and forecasts a bleak future and may worsen Nigeria’s mental health crisis.
They noted that the situation would further impact the productivity level of the country, leading to more economic losses and a shortage of human capital.
In 2022, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency alerted the public to the presence of ‘Akuskura’, a new psychoactive drug made of herbs but laced with tobacco and cannabis.
NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa
Last week, the agency announced the arrest of two suspects in the Federal Capital Territory with 3,550 bottles of the substance as well as other illicit drugs.
Before then, the agency had dealt with reducing the supply of other psychoactive substances such as cocaine, meth, ‘skuchies’, skunk, laughing gas, tramadol, ‘colos’ and ‘MkpuruMmiri’, among others.
However, several reports from the NDLEA indicated the rapid emergence and innovation of other psychoactive substances in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation, psychoactive substances are drugs that when taken, inhaled or administered into one’s system, affect the perception, consciousness, cognition, mood or emotions of the individuals.
WHO
Due to the numerous effects and health risks, the WHO noted that psychoactive drugs have different degrees of restriction and availability within countries and internationally.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated that the rapid emergence of large numbers of new psychoactive substances was a risk to public health and drug policy.
It, however, noted that the substances, which may become newly available in the market, have been prepared or formulated several years ago.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation defines new psychoactive substances as a range of drugs that have been designed to mimic established illicit drugs.
It added that NPS is often linked with health problems such as seizures, agitation, aggression and acute psychosis.
Data on ‘Drug Use in Nigeria – 2018’ from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that 14.4 per cent, that is 4.3 million people aged 15 and 64 years used drugs.
However, in 2016, the global annual prevalence of any drug use was put at 5.6 per cent among the adult population, reflecting a comparatively high figure.
In a week-long activity organised by the NDLEA to commemorate the 2024 International Day Against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking or World Drug Day, UNDOC’s Country Deputy Representative, Danilo Campisi, predicted a 40 per cent increase in drug use in Africa by 2030.
He further advised the country to invest heavily in drug use preventive measures and adopt a scientific evidence-based approach to prevention and treatment.
One of the experts who spoke with PUNCH Healthwise, a professor of Psychiatry and the President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, Taiwo Obindo, explained that youths continue to devise new psychoactive substances due to their brain’s dependency on the euphoric effects.
Prof. Taiwo Obindo
He further noted that when they cannot access the substances they are accustomed to, they are driven to create alternatives that provide the same level of euphoria.
The don pointed out that the difficulty in eradicating substance use despite several efforts was due to the biological impact it has on the brain.
He added, “The use of those substances impacts the brain, modifying and changing the configuration of the brain. There is a place called the reward centre where when stimulated, there is pleasure and over time, they get used to it and just have to enjoy that level of euphoria, the level of happiness that they tend to have.
“And I must say that drug use disorder is a chronic relapsing disorder, chronic in the sense that it is a long-term thing and relapsing in the sense that they often have to repeat the same act over and over before they eventually become abstinent. When they are not able to get or afford it, they need to now look for other means and ways of getting the same excitement or the euphoria they got initially.
“So, it goes just beyond an act, and that’s why forcing, punishment and all that often don’t help. It’s something that is enshrined and impacts on the structure of their brain, and therefore, needs more than just enforcement. There has to be a way of making sure that the pattern of behaviour is attended to. That is why they need to have or discover or get new or innovative ways or things that can give them the same level of euphoria.”
The psychiatrist warned that the rise in substance use across the country will increase the burden of mental health conditions, resulting in a growing number of unproductive youths.
He further noted that this trend would place additional strain on the healthcare system, mental health services, and the national economy.
The Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, added, “The monthly cost of administration for those who are into the use of substances is over N300,000 monthly. That’s what they pay to stay in the rehab centre. So, the cost of treatment for the family is also higher.
“The community also is impacted because those who are supposed to render services are not able to do so. The society and the country at large are also affected. So, individuals at the family and community levels, as well as the society are all impacted.”
Speaking on the way out, Obindo called for the reorganisation of the health system to establish more drug rehabilitation centres nationwide, especially at the Primary Health Care Centres.
The mental health expert also urged the NDLEA to intensify efforts to reduce the supply of psychoactive substances and direct suspected substance users to rehab facilities instead of prison.
To prevent a further rise in substance use, the APN president emphasised the importance of preventive measures through education on the consequences of substance use, starting from primary to tertiary institutions, to dissuade youths from engaging in such activities.
He also stressed the importance of raising awareness about substance use among children, noting that early exposure is more difficult to treat.
“Also, the Federal Ministry of Health also needs to have the Department of Mental Health Services established, which can then monitor and accredit rehab centres so that we don’t have a multiplicity of some mushroom facilities where the rights of those who have mental health conditions are infringed upon,” Obindo said.
Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said the absence of intentional parenting, raising children in areas polluted by drug trade, poverty, lack of employment, and underemployment are some factors predisposing youths to indulging in substance abuse.
Director-Media-and-Advocacy-NDLEA-Femi-Babafemi
“When intentional parenting is missing in a family, then children raised from such homes are more exposed to indulging in substance abuse than those that are brought up in families where there is good and intentional parenting.
“Intentional parenting in the sense that you have parents who are committed to the upbringing of their kids, have good intentions for their kids and they follow up. Parents who look after their kids when they are at home and who watch over them even when they are outside of the house.
“For instance, there are quite a lot of parents who care less about the habits of their kids. When indulgence in substance abuse or abuse of illicit substances happens and the signs start showing, where you don’t have intentional parents involved or present in the house and the family, then they miss it. They don’t see these signs and red flags early enough,” he said.
The NDLEA spokesperson further noted that children raised in an environment already polluted by drug trade and substance abuse also tend to go into substance abuse.
He also said that economic factors, such as poverty, lack of jobs, and underemployment, could also influence substance abuse in families and communities.
Babafemi further stated that aside from peer pressure, social media is a new trend fuelling substance use in the country.
“Quite a lot of young adults who have gone into substance abuse will tell you they got it from their friends or their friends asked them to take it or they went to a party where their friends were taking it and they decided to taste it. We have quite a lot of those stories.
“Social media is a new trend that is also having a negative impact or that is also influencing people to go into substance abuse. Now, we have most of our young adults who belong to the internet generation and so they spend almost all their time on the internet. They follow the fads, what they see on the internet and what they see their celebrities do. Unfortunately, a lot of them, that’s the celebrities do the wrong thing by glamorising substance abuse.
“You see a lot of them smoking and dancing with cannabis, using cannabis smoking as a class symbol. And these young ones who see these entertainers and celebrities as role models are tempted to believe that that is the way of life, the new norm and the way to make it. And so, they tend to also want to do the same thing,” he said.
He mentioned that social media has also become a dark channel to secretly source and buy illicit substances, which are packaged as household items or food and delivered to them.
The NDLEA spokesperson further noted that the country loses productive youths, who are supposed to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product and economy to substance use.
“Now, when you have your youth population, which is the engine room and productive wing of any nation and economy, and who are supposed to be at work, earning and providing for themselves and their families, depending or dependent on illicit substances, they can’t be productive anymore. Instead of them being productive, they become liabilities.
“And so when they are not productive, automatically they are not adding any value to the GDP of that nation. And when you have such a large chunk of your population, not productive and not adding value, automatically it will affect the GDP and ultimately the economy of the nation,” Babafemi said.
He called on Nigerians to be involved in drug supply reduction by passing information to the NDLEA about persons involved in the criminal trade.
“There is the other leg of our responsibility, which is the drug demand reduction. In this respect, the strategy the agency deployed through our War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, social advocacy programme or Initiative is the whole-of-society approach. That is, carrying the whole society along, and getting everybody involved in the awareness drive.
“One, in the area of prevention by raising awareness and that’s why you will see the agency today go to schools, marketplaces, communities, churches, mosques, and motor parks to talk to people there about the dangers of substance abuse to ensure they are equipped with the right information and knowledge that will help them resist the temptation when under pressure to abuse illicit substance,” Babafemi added.
The NDLEA’s media director also warned against stigmatising those abusing substances, saying they should be encouraged to seek help and treatment.
He called for the acceptance of rehabilitated individuals into society, stressing that a show of resentment could trigger a return to their old habits.
Babafemi urged users of illicit substances to desist from the act and pleaded with persons thinking of going into it to stop.
He also warned the drug traffickers and peddlers to desist from the act, warning that the long arm of the law would eventually catch up with them and they would be made to face the consequences.
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