The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in collaboration with Youths Against Drug Abuse has launched its campaign against drug abuse and misuse in Anambra.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye said on Thursday in Onitsha that the campaign tagged “Catch them young” was a drug preventive programme for youths in the state.
Adeyeye said the fight against drug abuse was a fight for all sectors of the community, teachers, religious centres, drug manufacturers, importers and government.
She urged stakeholders to go back to roots, cultural norms and the traditional family settings where fathers played their roles as providers while mothers nurtured and also supported the family financially.
Adeyeye renewed the call for the passage of the “Drug Safety Bill” to ensure stiffer penalty against drug peddlers.
She urged the Federal Government to provide treatment and rehabilitation centres for drug addicts.
The DG noted that the agency was using the Young Pharmaceutical Group to curb the spread of drug abuse in the country.
Represented by the state Coordinator of the agency, Christiana Esenwah, Adeyeye spoke on “Abuse of Psychoactive Drugs in Nigeria: Our Problem”.
In his contribution, the state Director of YADA, Onyeka Obidiegwu said the one year project would cover six pilot states of Anambra, Delta, Kano, Lagos, Adamawa and Osun.
Obidiegwu added that the project was targeted at secondary school students to ensure that they were well sensitised against drug abuse since they were more exposed to drugs at that age.
The drug abuse awareness campaign was attended by stakeholders in the state and representatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as over 50 students from various schools.
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