By Tricia Ikem
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) kicked off its 2018 Pharmacy Week in Lagos with a seminar on eradication of drug abuse and misuse.
In her address, the chairperson of PSN, Lagos State chapter, Pharm. Bolanle Adeniran, called for the creation of drug rehabilitation centres in the geographical zones of the country.
According to her, drug abuse and misuse is widespread and prevalent, hence the need for PSN to embrace actions which will involve the establishment of six rehabilitation centres in the six geo-political zones of the country as a matter of national urgency.
The chairman of the occasion and Director of Pharmacy, Nigeria Army Pharmacy Corps, Brig. Gen Philip D. Yusuf corroborat ing the earlier speaker, blamed the scourge of drug abuse and misuse on parents.
He added that poor monitoring of kids and the declining traditional values that should have guided them in today’s world, did not help matters.
While urging that all hands should be on deck to address the problem, he called on pharmacists to make sure these substances do not get into the wrong hands in the first place.
His words: “we as a security agency, we are doing our best, but there is need to inform other security agencies involved in crime protection. There is need to strengthen our borders and immigration too because if we don’t stop it now, drug abuse will ruin the whole society.”
Pharm Modupe Oyewole, said the drug situation “is scary because it’s painful when you see these youths wasting away because they misuse these drugs and their youth is being taken away from them. So, I agree that there is a lot to be done by medical professions, especially the pharmacists, because we are talking about drugs. so we need to do enlightenment.”
Pharm Kotun Folashode, Chairman of the Association of hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria(AHAPN), also agreed on the need for the populace to be better informed on the danger of drug abuse and misuse in the society.
“I work in the hospital and of course know that drugs are seriously abused,we need to do more awareness and enlightenment so that the menace will come down.”
