The Head, Mental Health Department, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Dr Ifedilichukwu Uchendu, has disclosed that those who abuse drugs are “committing passive suicide,” as there is no reason or justification for taking hard substances.
Dr. Uchendu, who is also the founder of Centre for Information and Prevention of Mental Diseases (CIPMED), said drug users only prolong their frustration when they take drugs, adding that those who use drugs claim frustration leads them into taking drugs.
Dr. Uchendu who disclosed this at the maiden edition of “Mental Watch,” a programme organized by CIPMED, in Abuja recently, said people don’t like talking about psychiatric medicine because there are a lot of misconceptions about it in the society.
He said: “Brain is the most complicated organ/system that God created in humans. Every activity in your body is controlled by your brain. What you are is dependent on what your brain is. Any substance that alters the functions of the brain is diminishing you. Your youthful period is the time to prepare for your tomorrow.
“The worst thing about drug is what it does to the brain. The worst among the drugs is Indian Hemp. It gets into the frontal lobe and destroys the motivational instincts of a man. It creates false perception instinct in a man.
“When we talk of menace of drugs, we should see it as thing we should fight together. The religious and traditional leaders should join the fight.”
He also stressed that many youths that would have made meaningful contributions to socio-economic wellbeing of the country had been addicted to drugs and had lost their right senses.
He therefore appealed to youths in the country to desist from drug abuse and addiction.
One of the guest speakers at the programme, a retired senior pharmacist at the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Hauwa Kerry, said the trend of drug abuse in Nigeria is taking a new dimension, as inhaling of lizard faeces and urine, pit toilet gas early in the morning, water and sand from gutters, is on the increase.
Speaking further at the event which had the theme: “The Nigerian Youth and the Menace of Drug Abuse: The Way Forward,” Kerry said in addition to common hard substances such as Indian Hemp, cocaine, marijuana, youths in the country also drink diluted chloroform; a highly hepato-toxic chemical, including consumption of codeine containing cough syrup.
She said drug abuse among youths in the country was becoming too widespread, urging that stakeholders such as government, parents, tutors at educational institutions, including religious and traditional leaders should strengthen efforts to combat the menace.
