With so many years of awareness of drug abuse and “say no to drugs” campaigns, why is there still so much drug abuse?
Why is there still so much drug abuse in the society?
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I feel Though a lot has been done in sensitizing the populace, The “youths” in particular on the dangers of Drug abuse, A lots still remains to be done to curb the menace.
* Despite the efforts of the Drug law enforcement agents, Drugs are still available and even at a meagre sum so the average Nigerian youth can afford it
* The rate of unemployment in the country is ever increasing and we know what is said about idle hands….
* And then the parents and the society at large has got to do more In enlightening the young ones on it’s effects Because certainly CURIOSITY still remains a Major culprit in drug abuse. It’s rather sad that sometimes When the elderly are also involved in This It leaves little to be desired and makes the situation even worse than it is .
* On a final note, I feel If stricter punishments were to be meted out by the Government on Drug abuse and Traffickers it’ll go a long way in curbing the rate of Drug abuse in the country .
Without a doubt. There have been many years of spreading honest with movements like say-not-to-drug abuse and yes drug abuse previous in all society the movements did not by any means; awareness on the effects of drug abuse has been spread and people are aware of the consequences of drug abuse, but that is where the problem lies. The movements addressed an effect of a causes that were never really given much attention.
There are far too many reasons as to why one would indulge in drug abuse, but to list a few, I would say; mental health disorders, peer pressure, work, sleeping disorders, pleasure e.t.c. they go on and on and they differ from person to person. Whatever the cause may be, when it presents itself, the drugs provide a desirable short term solution, and because of this, we have people who are aware of the ramifications of abusing drugs but still go ahead either way.
In the past, I have met a few people who had certain addictions and when I asked one of them if they knew the consequences of what they were doing, they seemed to be more aware of the damage they were causing their systems. I asked this person, “you do know that you are slowly killing yourself?” And they said, “yes, I know,” and they seemed unfazed. So I thought the dopamine surge they got from the fix made it worth it. Later on, I discovered that that person was a victim of rape more than once and started using drugs around that period. Then I thought the dopamine high was a worthy distraction.
Another example worthy of note would be the use of adderral (a stimulant) which is growing popular in universities outside of the country. According to an article published on webMD.com on the use of adderral, and I quote: The medication is used to treat Attention Deficit Hypersensitivity Disorder (ADHD for short)… It can help to increase your ability to pay attention, stay focused on an activity and behavioural problems…” This drug is also known to cause a heavy reliance on it from the user, to the point where doctors who use it in treatment take the patient away from it for some time to see any changes in behaviour before letting them use it again. Addiction to it by university students should not be a surprise given how much is demanded from us in a semester. Now, assuming a medical student were to use this drug to enhance their performance, telling them about the long term effects would be of no use if it helps them get through an MBBS examination.
So with that said, what are better solutions to solving the problem of drug abuse? To answer that question in my opinion, I would say there is no single way to curb the abuse of drugs. But I can say that when dealing with addictions, experts have found that the addiction, in most cases, are as a result of an underlying problem, so they try to identify the problem and solve the problem. If the problem is peer pressure for example, they create a distance between the victim and their friends, or give them new friends. If the problem is a mental health disorder like depression or ADHD, spread awareness on the depression itself and create programs to tackle it as a general problem in society, or reduce the pressure on people with problems like ADHD to perform in schools or create better environments for them to grow. In general, give more attention to these causes.
These are only a few things which I wish Nigeria could try to implement against drug abuse, instead of doubling down on punishments and creating stricter drug laws which have proven to be very counterproductive. The fight against drug abuse can yield better results and we will make it better.