DRUG ABUSE IN NIGERIA

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I do not know how disturbing Drug Abuse or Usage is at the other side of the country, but what i do know is that it is something killing so fast but yet unnoticed.
Hi everyone I’m PRECIOUS OREKHA by name, a Nigeria Undergraduate Student and a realist by circumstance. I live down the heart of NIGERIA, a large state called EDO STATE, pretty famous for the Slogan “THE HEART BEAT OF THE NATION”. Throughout my 24 years on Earth, I have seen how loving people filled with dreams; strong will, character and purpose turn into Monsters. These were people I would stick my neck out for, go to any length for cause they were purpose driven. WHY THIS SUDDEN BEHAVIOR? Well you know better, DRUG ABUSE.
So how do we define the term “Drug”. For a layman I’d say a Drug is any substance used for medical purposes that changes the state or function of the body. Going a little detailed I’d define drug as any substance that, when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed or dissolved under the tongue causes a temporary physiological change in the body.
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WHAT IS DRUG ABUSE?
• This can be seen as a situation when drug is taken more than it is prescribed
• Can be defined as the deliberate use of chemical substances for reasons other than intended medical purposes and which results in physical, mental or social impairment of the user.
A SHORT LIFE EXPERIENCE
I grew up in a home, where I never get to see my parents together, not even once sharing thoughts, kisses or those normal things I’d imagined a parent should, probably what I mean by normal isn’t normal after all. I lived in a home so much influenced by the society where drug abuse or other illicit act were the order of the day. A home were the only time I see Dad and Mom together is after he’d gone out drunk, high and come home half dead. Or that time when he was on a life support for a week as a result of too much intake of drugs and it took Moms prayers to bring him back because we ( the children) had given up trying. Maybe it was because she was his wife afterall, a duty meant only to be carried out by her.
As the year went on, Brother started acting up, the attitude started creeping in, the lateness, the womanizing and so on. Never really got to understand why I didn’t turn up that way, maybe it was because I hated seeing my mom bleed profusely after every fight with dad over his lifestyle. And so, like that our home was torn apart, nobody showed interest in the others life’s struggle. My little Sister dropped out of school when she got pregnant, “raped she said”. Dad died of multiple organ failure, mom became depressed till she was hit by stroke and like that our dreams disappeared.
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THE SOCIETY
What can I say, is it the common practice of youths taking heavy drugs before the start of the days’ work, going for classes, writing exams or even getting high for high sake because it was what was in vogue. Or is it the fact that our fathers and mothers failed to correct us because they too were trapped by this “poison”. Well I could only tell of the countless Nigerian youths being thrown into prison for life or years in the dungeon, because of the effect drugs took on them. Or the psychological trauma they went through for years, many of whom died because they couldn’t bear it. Perhaps the countless numbers of ladies who dropped out of school, had organ implications and where told they would never give birth as a result of wrong and abusive usage of drugs. Well would go on and on but if I don’t speak up, at least to that one person, then we would all be ALIVE but never LIVING.
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FROM RESEARCH
Drug use and abuse is the primary reason why many youths have been incarcerated as well as being a source of crime and health problem in our society today. As a matter of fact, majority of these youths have been arrested for drug offenses or have a drug abuse problem. There are two aspects of drugs associated with drugs; The risk of addictions and the adverse health and behavioral consequence.
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CAUSES OF DRUGS ABUSE
There are primarily two main causes of drug abuse;
• Peer Pressure
• Depression
SOME EXAMPLES OF SUCH DRUGS
 CODEINE
 HEROINE
 MORPHINE
 PAREGONIC METHADONE ETC.

EFFECTS OF DRUG ABUSE
 It increases the heart beat
 It deadens ones nervous system
 It causes blood vessels to dilate
 It interferes with the power of judgment and poisons the higher brain and nervous Centre etc.
 High dosage sometimes causes unconsciousness, coma or Death
 Reduces our physical and psychological sensitivity, resulting in a loss of contact with reality, sense of euphoria, tension and anxiety.
REMEDIES TO DRUG ABUSE
 Rehabilitation of affected persons
 Aggressive extraction of all the sources of these hard drugs including the farms where they are planted by a joint force of authorities
 Teaching the effects of drug abuse in school
 Stiff penalty melted against anybody found dealing in hard drugs
 Always seek the consent of doctors
 Be willing to share your struggles with friends or close relatives.
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