By Linus Aleke
The fight against drug abuse is a legitimate war that must be sustained if society is ever going to wean itself of all negatives associated with drug abuse and the traffic of illicit substances across national and international boundaries.
Experts, however, said that to sustain this noble effort, aimed at ridding society of the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, the fight must be waged with human face.
This is why, the 2023 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, sought to give prime position to “empathy” in the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
Commemorating this year’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres called for a crackdown on traffickers, to re-allocate the resources for treatment.
The United Nations Scribe who observed that tens of millions of people suffer from drug use disorders, also, added that less than one-fifth are on treatment.
He noted that drug users are doubly victimized, by the harmful effects of the drugs themselves, and second by the stigma and discrimination they face.
According to him, “People who use drugs can often face significant barriers to treatment and even health services for infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Meanwhile, drug traffickers continue to prey on drug users, rapidly escalating the production of dangerous, highly addictive synthetic drugs.”
He explained that this year’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking focuses on the need to put people first by ending stigma and discrimination and strengthening prevention.
This, he said, means stressing rehabilitation, rather than punishment and incarceration for minor drug offences.
“It means upholding the human rights of people who use drugs, including by expanding prevention and treatment programmes and health services. It means protecting people and communities alike by ending impunity for drug traffickers profiting from people’s pain. Above all, it means Governments leading the way,” he said.
The UN Secretary-General further shared his previous effort in tackling the drug menace without stigmatisation of drug users at the national level.
He said, “When I was Prime Minister of Portugal, we implemented non-criminal responses to drug possession for personal use while cracking down on traffickers and re-allocating resources to prevention, treatment, and harm-reduction measures.
“As a result, drug consumption and associated infectious disease rates plummeted, more drugs were seized by police and customs, and — most importantly — lives were saved. Today, Portugal has one of Europe’s lowest overdose and death rates from drug use.”
He added, “As a global community, let’s continue our work to end drug abuse, illicit trafficking, and the stigma endured by drug users around the world”.
Earlier in a separate statement, the UN experts call for an end to the global ‘war on drugs, stressing that the international community must replace punishment with support and promote policies that respect, protect, and fulfil the rights of all.
Also, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that cannabis legalization in parts of the world appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts.
This offensive development, which is contained in its World Drug Report 2022, also detailed record rises in the manufacturing of cocaine, the expansion of synthetic drugs to new markets, and continued gaps in the availability of drug treatments, especially for women.
According to the report, around 284 million people aged 15-64 used drugs worldwide in 2020, a 26 per cent increase over the previous decade.
Young people, the report said, are using more drugs, with use levels today in many countries higher than with the previous generation.
“In Africa and Latin America, people under 35 represent the majority of people being treated for drug use disorders. Globally, the report estimates that 11.2 million people worldwide were injecting drugs. Around half of this number were living with hepatitis C, 1.4 million were living with HIV, and 1.2 million were living with both,” the report further said.
However, anti-drug use and illicit trafficking advocacy group, under the aegis of Balm for the Bruised Foundation (BFBF), cautioned against drug use stigma and discrimination, to encourage treatment and rehabilitation of those who embraced drug use as a shortcut for escaping societal challenges, especially, widows who were forced into drug use by harmful traditional widowhood practices in parts of the country.
Stakeholders in anti-drug use and illicit trafficking in drugs in Nigeria gave this warning at a webinar on the widow and challenges of drug use stigmatisation organized by Balm for the Bruised Foundation (BFBF), in commemoration of International Day Against Drug Trafficking and Abuse.
Speaking on the theme of the 2023 International Day Against Drug Trafficking and Abuse, “People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention,” the Director of Media and Advocacy, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Femi Babafemi said, this year’s theme captured the whole-of-society approach to taming the drug scourge.
Noting that the theme is especially pertinent to the Nigerian situation at the moment, Mr. Femi said that those who bear the brunt, directly and indirectly of the drug scourge globally are primarily the people.
To this end, he said that any meaningful efforts towards tackling the scourge must be people–centred.
According to him, “People first, is a notion that should begin with the mind. In this context, the people refer to an approach that aims to recognise and address the needs of the vulnerable group, especially the drug users, to make them feel more valued, supported, and protected in society, than they previously or presently perceive themselves to be.
“Putting the people first will entail that they are shown empathy, love, and care, and this gesture is more likely to elicit their willingness to be part of any programme or action tailored towards their health and needs.”
The NDLEA spokesperson said that global efforts towards achieving a drug-free society often suffer setbacks due to negative societal perceptions of people who use drugs and also due to a lack of proper understanding of the drug abuse phenomenon arising from societal ignorance, misconception, and prejudice towards others.
The second part of the theme, he said, is about Stigma and discrimination, which tend to decrease the self-worth of the affected persons and may trigger depression, and resistance to change; these negative attitudes, that is stigma and discrimination, deepen society’s general apathy towards issues affecting them.
“This is why at the NDLEA, especially in the past two and a half years, we’ve shifted towards global best practices in tackling this scourge by making significant investments in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
“The doors of our rehabilitation facilities are open at all times. In the last 29 months, we have acquired a few more rehab centres, given to us as donations, while we have also obtained the federal government’s approval for the construction of regional model rehabs,” he said.
The Executive Director, Better Care and Recovery Consult Ltd. Mr. Inalegwu Ameh said that there is an urgent need for reorientation to help society move away from stigmatization against drug users.
He charged citizens and caregivers not to be judgemental while dealing with victims of substance abuse.
He, however, regretted that harmful traditional widowhood practices are forcing some widows into the leprotic hands of substance abuse.
Executive Director of International Press Centre, Mr Lanre Arogundade, said that the media needs to do more about the effect of drug use on society, to reduce the stigmatisation of users.
The Convener of the Webinar, Princess Ekwi Ajide, said, stigmatization against drug users kills faster than other diseases put together.
Quoting United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Princess Ajide said that 14.4 million Nigerians use drugs and that one out of every four drug users in Nigeria is a woman.
She disclosed that these women, sometimes owing to their situation, depend on drugs for survival but are often stigmatised by family members and society.
