The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), has urged youths to avoid drug abuse, warning that it enables crimes and criminality.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Marwa made this call at a National Youth Conference organized by the Vanguard Against Drug Abuse detox centre in Abuja, themed “The Youths, Drugs, Mental Health and Nigeria’s Future.”
Marwa emphasized that drug abuse leads to anti-social behavior, fueling insecurity and violence, citing the South East region as an example.
He said, “For the young people listening to me this morning, my appeal to you is simple. Youth is an important period in the human life cycle, a make or mar period.
According to him, It could become a period of lost opportunities due to the use of illicit drugs. And it is a tragedy for any country whose youthful population is given to drug abuse.
“The loss in economic terms is often unquantifiable, because, youth, who are supposed to be the engine room of the economy and the driver of a country’s GDP, become less productive.
“And also more of a burden when the drug culture thrives in society.
“I am sure some of you are familiar with the dire warning regarding the use of tobacco that “smokers are liable to die young.”
“That warning applies also to the abuse of an illicit substance or any misuse of pharmaceutical drugs.
“Those who abuse drugs or illicit substances are likely to die young and are likely to live a health-impaired life in the later years of their lives,” he said.
Marwa said that there were many compelling reasons for any youth not to be caught in the vortex of drug abuse.
“But above all, be reminded that the consequence is not limited to only you, the abuser of the illicit drug, but your family will also be affected, as well as your community and country,” he said.
