The rise of drug abuse among the youths in Nigeria has created a massive trend of health problems and psychological problems for too many abusers, thereby creating problems for their families and immediate communities to the extent that the entire social fabric of Nigerian society is becoming weak.
The issue of drug abuse has become a serious social problem affecting both the social lives of many people in Nigeria.
Drug abuse connotes the use of drugs not under prescription by a qualified medical practitioner. Drug abuse has been in existence for ages in human history. The problem is universal with Nigeria having its fair share, especially among the youths. Drug abuse is one of the health-related problems among youths and has been a source of concern to educational stakeholders.
The issue of drug abuse in Nigeria needs urgent attention. The drug is an effective substance in the life of human beings to cure sickness and make life healthy. Drugs are indeed used for beneficent purposes, effective substances for good health, but they are being abused by people especially youths. They use it illegally and unlawfully, thus it becomes harmful to the body. It is a problem that affects us all as parents, children, teachers, government officials, taxpayers, and workers.
Many young people engage in drug abuse as a result of their association with bad friends. Thus, the phenomenon of drug abuse could be solved through collective social actions. This is to say that family, community, government, and Non-Government Organizations are all expected to intervene. Parents need to monitor their children, and the kind of company they keep. The government on its part should introduce harsh and stringent measures on the indiscriminate use and selling of drugs.
Religious leaders also need to call the attention and enlighten the general public on the dangers of drug abuse. Government should provide rehabilitation centers for drug abusers that are mentally affected. The educational curriculum needs to cover moral training for students to become highly disciplined and become important members of society.
. Ado, a level 200 student of the Department of Mass Communication, Skyline University Kano, writes from [email protected].