A university don, Prof Ernest Ugiagbe, has said that the rising wave of drug abuse in society is encouraged by bad management of national resources, unemployment and inequitable distribution of wealth among citizens.
Ugiagbe stated this in a keynote address he delivered at a Stakeholders Dialogue On Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights Violation and People Who Use Drugs in Benin City
The dialogue, which had as its theme: No To Stigmatization and Criminalization, Enhance Prevention And Human Reduction, was organised by Securing The Creative Goldmine In Youths Initiative, a Benin based NGO.
Prof Ugiagbe said drugs have destroyed so many marriages and educational careers in the society and have also affected physical and social relationships.
He however outlined some ways of curbing drug abuse in the society. He said, “The education must start from the family. The family should be held responsible if anyone is found with drugs in such a family.
“If parents, schools and religious bodies do their job well, it may go a long way in eradicating the use of drugs among the youths.
“There should be political will from the government to really intervene and go after the big people in the society who are in the business of use and sale of drugs. We should stop stigmatizing drug users. Rather, encourage them to leave drugs, make them your friends and they will continue to value their lives.”
He opted for a legal framework for curbing the menace rather than condemning drug users or criminalizing them. They should be introduced to what will help them quit drugs.
Ugiagbe also said there was need to encourage donor agencies to direct their funds to eradicating poverty in the society, because poverty and ignorance are also responsible for drug abuse in the society.
In a lecture, Dr Michael Ndisika, who spoke on the Reduction, Stigmatization and Criminalization of people with Drugs in our Society, said it was necessary to find out those elements that make people to go into drugs.
Ndisika said that when interacting with drug users we should try and tell them those things that will make them feel important and accepted in the society, rather than stigmatizing them.
“Addressing stigma and avoiding criminalization is vital for the wellbeing of individuals and communities,” he stressed.
The executive director of Securing The Creative Goldmine in Youths Initiative, Comrade Asibor Edwin said the increasing rate of abuse of substance level needs a holistic approach by all and sundry, not just the government alone but everyone else apart from those in the business of sales and distribution of drugs.
“This dialogue is expected to further increase awareness on the subject with a view to coming up with solutions in reducing the stereotype on people who use drugs in the state and to give them opportunities to contribute meaningfully to societal development”, he stated.
