Mukhtar Garba Kobi
Youths are seen as the backbone of societies upon which the future relies. Their present lifestyles and attitudes determine a lot in unfolding what the future generation would be. Youthful age comes with some challenges; it is the period of adolescence which is full of physiological and physical changes as such, any act they engage in whether good or bad tends to be hard to stop.
Youths generally comprise of both genders; male and female within the age brackets of 18 to 35. They are the driving force in labour markets. Unfortunately, abusing drugs amongst them nowadays has been so widespread to the extent that community leaders, governments and other stakeholders have ventured into eradicating it.
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency was established in 1986 in order to arrest sellers and users of illicit drugs as well as confiscate drugs and take addicted victims to reform centres.
In schools, those that disrupt academic activities usually do such under the influence of hard drugs which make them deranged and impede smooth teaching and learning.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined drugs as any substance other than those required for maintenance of normal health, which when taken into the living organism may modify one or more of its functions.
Drug abuse refers to a non medical use of drugs for the purpose of inebriation. A substance is abused if it is deliberately used to induce physiological or psychological effects or both for purposes other than curing one’s ailments. The upsurge in consumption and trafficking of hard drugs has rendered most societies unsafe; as agile youths that take drugs engage in activities such as rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and host of other crimes.
Drug abuse in now so widespread that housewives and aged persons that are supposed to be good role models now take them freely which is very bad for teenagers in our societies. In the past, cases of drug abuse and trafficking were so rare, but in recent years, it has become daily occurrence. The incidences tend to be high especially during elections; as idle youths are being used by bad politicians to unleash terror after taking hard drugs.
Drug abuse has been on the rise from the time youths discovered that cough syrups and other cheap drugs could make a person act wayward and intoxicated at the same time. It became virulent as the rate of crimes increased. Most of those addicted to drug abuse are ignorantly depending on it for their daily activities such as social, educational, etc.
Some take them to pacify their level of depression not knowing they are harming their health. Amongst drugs usually abused include: Indian hemp, cocaine, morphine, heroine and alcohol, etc. The rising fear is that drugs and hemp being smoked lead youths to early death, as they become victims of diseases such as lung cancer and other internal organ diseases.
Some of the causes of abusing hard drugs amongst youths include peer group influence; an adage says a friend to a thief is also seen as a thief; likewise, a friend to a good person is also considered as good. Many use drugs because their friends are using them. Some take drugs because their parents neglect their responsibilities of providing, advising and guiding their children’s actions. That is why some grow up in a family doing whatever they like and nobody is sternly putting them on the right path. Such young men and women are vulnerable to be victims of drug abuse easily. Unemployment is a key factor that makes youths engage in heinous acts including drug abuse; when a person has nothing to do, the little money he or she gets usually goes for drugs they are addicted to.
Similarly, another factor that pushes youths to drug abuse is depression; at times, people consume hard drugs in order to make them less depressed from social anxiety, stress-related disorders and physical pains. The problem is that their depression only lessens when they are inebriated but comes back afresh immediately the drug melted away.
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency which is saddled with the responsibility of exterminating illicit drug trafficking and consumption should make sure that producers of hard drugs, farmers of hemp, and those selling it are arrested, taken to court and if found guilty are severely punished to serve as deterrent to others.
Youths should not be left idle as the idle mind thinks of nothing good; government at levels should team up and be providing them with employment opportunities and capital to start cultivation of crops, wholesale or retail of domestic items and other business ventures.
Lastly, the orientation and physical campaigns on dangers of drug abuse should be championed by. May God salvage our lands from abusing drugs.
Kobi writes via: [email protected]
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