Pot times July 20, 2005
The Danger Of Drug Abuse
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1146/a03.htmlNewshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 THE DANGER OF DRUG ABUSE
Source: This Day (Nigeria)
Copyright: 2005 This Day.
Contact:
thisday@nova.net.ng
Website: http://www.thisdayonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2870
Author: Ayakeme Whisky
Life Is A Wonderful Gift. It Appears Flexible, Yet Rigid.
Life Is All About Making Choices.
Apart from the choice of one's parents where life seems rigid, God has indeed
ordanied man a free willed agent and offers him a whole lot of options.
The choice of having a formal education; the choice of friends to be identified
with; the choice of food to eat and habit to cultivate etc. are several of
the choices every man must make for himself.
The beauty of life lies in the freedom to either make healthy or harmful
selections. Nevertheless, whatever choice you make will invariably
determine the quality of life that you will live.
Have you ever taken time to reflect on some of your decisions in life? If your
have, then two likely things happened.
The first is a feeling of regret for the unhealthy decisions taken and secondly
a sense of fulfillment for the healthy choices made. It is in the light of
this that the theme for the celebration of this year's United Nations' Day
Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances, Value Yourself Make Healthy Choices, is apt.
It would be recalled that June 26 of every year has been set-aside by the United
Nations for member states to reappraise efforts at tackling the global threat of
drugs to mankind.
It goes without saying that drug abuse and illicit traffic has eaten deep into
the fabric of the society and concrete and decisive actions are required to halt
its further advance.
The understanding that the choices that man make can go a long way in ridding
our society of the drug menace, no doubt, informed the year's theme.
Becoming a drug addict or a drug trafficker is really a matter of choice.
It is a decision you have to make yourself.
Although, environmental factors such as peer influence, parents' involvement,
poverty, unemployment and even easy and sudden wealth may influence one's
decision, you can will yourself to resist the lure.
The bad influence on your harmful decision to either abuse or traffic in drugs
may come from different areas.
It may come from friends at school or work place, neighbours and even from one's
parents.
Worst still, it could be as a result of the glamourising effects of drugs
flaunted in movies by film stars or sheer desire to experiment with drugs due to
ignorance of their dire consequences. Irrespective of the influencing
factor, it is worthy of note that many people who have made similar unhealthy
choices such as drug abuse, drug trafficking, indiscriminate and careless sex
habit, cultism etc daily rue that first day they began the journey to torment.
These drug addicts and traffickers are filled with regret.
The consequences of their past mistakes keep hunting them till date.
"If I had known," is a popular lament that escapes from the lips of
such people often.
In fact, the list of regret is endless, "I should not have entered into
that club or house. I should not have tasted it. I should have said
no."
Drug addiction is not attained in a day, but it is pertinent to realize that it
starts by just making one unhealthy choice.
Cultivating the habit of drug addition may start with two common social habits;
smoking of cigarette and drinking of alcohol.
Cigarette and alcohol are known as gateway drugs, because they can correctly be
dubbed as appetizers to the unsavory meal of drugs.
Though, they are socially acceptable, they are also addictive. There is
the tendency to increase dosage if cigarette and alcohol are taken regularly.
We must take full responsibility for our actions in life. If we bow to
negative forces and bad pressures, we would only have ourselves to blame.
In spite of all odds, we have the innate ability to say no and be resolute in
making healthy decisions.
Cultivating a good and healthy choice is as easy as cultivating a bad or harmful
habit.
However, natural human tendency and wrong preference for evil tend to make us
decide otherwise.
The forces of good and evil have equal chances and capability in our lives.
The perceived strength of one over the other is a function of individual bias.
The consequences of making unhealthy decision such as drug abuse and trafficking
include poor health condition, unemployment, high susceptibility to HIV/AIDS and
broken marriage.
Others include social stigma and ordeal of arrest, trial and conviction for drug
offences and premature death.
However, when you make a good choice by saying no to drugs, you will reap
tremendous benefits such as good health, good name and reputation, fulfilled
career and blissful family life etc. The choice is yours. Choose a
healthy life style and make the world a peaceful place for all.
One of the statutory obligations of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (
NDLEA ) is the proper guidance in the formation of salubrious choices. As
a matter of fact, the NDLEA, which was established by Decree 48 of 1989, was
intended to restore the country's battered image, through a vigorous and
enthusiastic prosecution of the drug war. The aspirations of Nigerians for
the Agency have been properly articulated and directed under the headship of
Alhaji ( Dr. ) Bello Lafiaji. The NDLEA boss has implemented several
programme of events geared towards the formation of wholesome choices in life.
Alhaji Lafiaji's crave for excellent drug enforcement epitomizes devotion to
humanity and professionalism. His dialectic paradigm combines the merits
of both proactive and reactive approach in anti-narcotic activities. The
proactive technique is preventive while the latter is corrective. The
NDLEA is taking this bold step to ensure that every body is carried along in the
campaign for the formation of good choices; and those who have inadvertently
made wrong choices have ample opportunity to make amends.
Some Agency's efforts at redirecting choices are centred on the various drug
enlightenment campaign programme.
One of these is the catch-them-young campaign. It is targeted mainly at
the youth, particularly teenagers, who are highly prone to making wrong choices.
The drug Agency is intensifying this crusade through the establishment of drug
free club in schools.
These clubs serve as counselling units in schools to sensitize young people to
the catastrophic consequences of making unhealthy choices.
The fact that students under the tutelage of the drug Agency manage these drug
free clubs has made it to break insurmountable barriers in the war against drug
use and trafficking among youths.
The use of counter narcotic workshops and seminars are also important ways of
sensitizing the public concerning the dangers of unhealthy habits.
This is one handy tool of public enlightenment that the NDLEA has not left to
chance. These seminars are usually targeted at sensitive groups such as
the National Union of Road Transport Workers in factories etc. To ensure
efficacy in this campaign the NDLEA prints and distributes posters in public
places such as schools, hospitals, markets, bus stops etc.
Interestingly, these posters carry captivating messages in English, pigin
English and major Nigerian languages.
The use of souvenirs such as Tee Shirts and face caps, stickers, etc have also
been very effective in reaching out to members of the public.
The NDLEA has also entered into partnership with corporate organizations in the
area of programme sponsorship. There are numerous drama series on
television aimed at guiding members of the public in making good and productive
choices.
Some of the most celebrated ones include Boomerang, Encounter and Full Circle
sponsored by Standard Trust Bank and transmitted on several television stations
across the country.
Complementing the TV drama series are anti-drug radio jingles on at least 12
radio stations, two at least in each geo-political area of Nigeria.
NDLEA appreciates the drug situation in the country.
Consequently, it has taken adequate measures to complement drug enlightenment
campaign with drug interdiction efforts.
This includes investigation, arrest/seizure and prosecution of drug culprits.
The painful agony of arrest, trial and conviction helps to re-direct the mindset
of prospective drug dealers and addicts. Besides, arrests and seizures
also help to cut the chain of illegal supply of drugs, which will ultimately
lead to unavailability of illegal drugs.
The Agency has steadily made overwhelming drug seizures with fantastic numbers
of arrests.
However, hope is not lost for people that have cultivated bad habits such as
drug addiction.
This is because of the fact that treatment works.
The NDLEA through its Drug Demand Reduction Unit offers counselling, treatment
and rehabilitation services to drug abuse patients in their offices nationwide.
A total of 267 drug-addicted persons have been successfully rehabilitated in the
country between January and May this year. We must not forget to seek help
whenever we are in need. Drug addiction is like a spirit that torments its
victim until he is delivered.
Drug addicts, who indeed are sick people, require love and care like other
patients.
The choice that we make in life is a reflection of the value that we place on
our lives.
Life is a priceless gift of nature.
It is true that human beings die, but those that value their lives are
immortalized through their productive ideas.
A life that is devoted to creative innovation aimed at making life more
meaningful and pleasurable to humanity is an eternal treasure. Drug
trafficking and addiction are ominous acts that will not only reduce the value
of our lives, but also capable of outright destruction of the beauty and talent
of all drug couriers and druggies. Continue to add more value to your life
by making healthy choices.