The Commandant of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gombe State, Aliyu Dole, has said most drug peddlers are philanthropists giving money to people, making them reluctant to divulge information about their benefactors.
The Agency has confiscated over 1000kg of hard drugs and also intercepted more than 800kg of substances. A group of Farmers planting Indian hemp in neighboring villages of Gombe, numbering 14, were arrested and currently in jail.
There has been an increase in the number of arrests this year (102), as against last year(82), with perpetrators between ages 21 – 40.
“The economic recession is part of it because people are trying to see they get something to do, to sell and get money to feed their family.
If you ask one or two people, they will tell you that they are selling drugs to get money to feed their children”.
The Agency faces among other challenges, lack of permanent office and uncompleted rehabilitation centers among others.
“The building has been completed but not furnished. We are still struggling to see that it is funded and furnished, so we can receive and arrest drug peddlers from drug joints and be able to rehabilitate them”.
Top 6 Drugs/Substances Abused in Nigeria
1. CANNABIS/MARIJUANA
* Street Names: Igbo, Eja, Pot, Weed, Ganja, Hemp, Dope, Mary Jane, Grass, Reefer, Ewe.
* Effects: With over 500 chemicals, including Deltatherathy cannabinol, Cannabis goes straight to the brain, liver, and kidney, causing damage to the memory, internal organs as well as aiding mental illness and blindness.
2. COCAINE
* Street Names: Crack, Aunty Nora, Charlie, Oko(Stone), Mojo, Flake, Paradise.
* Effects: Cocaine causes confusion, paranoia, agitation, itching, psychosis, hallucinations. It also causes cardiac seizure, destruction of white blood cells and sudden death.
3. HEROIN
* Street Names: Gbana, Brown Sugar, Italian, White Pinch.
* Effects: Unlike cocaine, heroin addiction is physical. It produces agitation, restlessness, drowsiness, personality change, loss of appetite, nausea, itching. Heroin addiction can also spread HIV through sharing of needles.
4. ECSTACY
* Street Names: Adam, Eve, Cadillac, Club, Lorepill.
* Effects: Psychotic or mood disturbance, hallucinations, paranoia.
5. MADRASS
* Street Names: Chinese capsule, liley
* Effects: Drowsiness, anxiety, false sense of ability, mood swing, psychosis.
6. GUM
* Street Names: Solution, Diamond, Evostic
* Effects: Destroys the brain cells, also causes permanent brain damage.
