How to curtail drug abuse in schools

Drugs are medical substances admitted by professional medical practitioners to sick people. Drug abuse is the misuse of those drugs to cope with personal problems most times. Any student who engaged him/herself in this act of drug abuse could cause problems to the body organs.

The symptoms of drug abuse include sleepiness, slow-talking, violence, and the rest, that’s why most people indulge in drug abuse to gain excitement. The primary goal of every student is to graduate with flying colours. This dream cannot be realised without the student studying hard.

The drugs that students use include cocaine, tramadol, cough syrups, Indian hemp, and the likes. Drug abusers are prone to get themselves into different behaviours, a student who is a drug abuser sleeps most of the time instead of concentrating on his studies. Many drug abusers spend many years instead of the stipulated and required number of years in their tertiary level programs.

Even though a lot of orientation on drugs are being carried out, higher institutions still record a lot of cases of drug abuse on campus. There is, therefore, the need for student affairs units in tertiary Institutions to play their roles to have drug-free campuses.

They should make good arrangement in allocating rooms to students with consequences for any rule violation. If a student has a visitor, he/she should state the period of stay, in case something happens, the authority is well informed. It is prohibited to smoke cigarettes amidst people but is allowed at a deserted area. Smoking of Indian hemp, cocaine, tramadol is a grave offense.

However, the National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is saddled with the responsibility to tackle drug issues in Nigeria. Therefore, the student disciplinary committee should collaborate with the NDLEA to have strong and viable mobilization on drugs on campuses. Drug abuse is a serious crime that needs to be tackled in order to guide and protect our youths to have a better Nigeria.

Dangana Filibus Zadva,

Department of Mass Communication,

University of Maiduguri

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