With drug abuse posing an increasing threat to public health and social stability, the Lagos State Government on Thursday joined the global community to mark the 2025 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, using the occasion to push a science-based, stigma-free approach to prevention and recovery.
Substance abuse, especially among young people, continues to exact a heavy toll. According to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 14 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64 had used psychoactive substances as of 2018, with many suffering from substance use disorders.
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Mental health professionals and practitioners have said that the consumption of illicit substances including cannabis, opioids, addictive cough syrup, tranquilizers, ecstasy, solvents and inhalants, and cocaine is leaving in its wake individuals with mental disorders and other health complications.
In Lagos alone, a recent survey revealed that 13.6% of secondary school students had experimented with drugs, and 6.9% were active users, raising concerns about early exposure, long-term dependency, and its consequences on education, safety, and productivity.
To confront these dangers, the Lagos State Ministry of Health, through its Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services and the Lagos State Interministerial Drug Abuse Control Committee (LSIDACC), hosted a high-impact sensitisation campaign within the State Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja. The initiative was held in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other public stakeholders.
Themed “Breaking the Chains: Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery for All!”, the 2025 campaign aimed to promote evidence-based prevention, expand access to care, and mobilise key actors around early intervention.
The Lagos event featured a placard walk to engage civil servants and visitors, as well as the distribution of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials designed to dispel myths, raise awareness, and connect individuals with help resources.
Participants included directors from various health departments, youth advocates, civil society actors, and representatives from the Ministry of Information’s Public Enlightenment Department, all reinforcing a whole-of-government response to the drug abuse crisis.
‘Drug addiction is a public health issue, not a moral failing’
Delivering the keynote address, Pharm. (Mrs.) Olawale Poluyi, Director of Pharmaceutical Services and Chairperson of LSIDACC, emphasised that addiction must be recognised as a treatable medical condition, not a matter of criminality or moral weakness.
“Today is not just about awareness. It’s a day of renewed commitment,” she said. “Drug addiction is not necessarily a moral failure; it is a medical condition. And it must be treated as such.”
She highlighted that over 296 million people globally used drugs in 2024, pointing to trauma, peer influence, curiosity, and social isolation as common entry points. For Lagos, she warned, the impact was already being felt in families, schools, and neighbourhoods.
Poluyi also stressed the critical role of pharmacists in ensuring safe medication practices, monitoring controlled prescriptions, and counselling patients on alternatives to drug misuse. She called for more safe spaces for vulnerable youth, including sports programmes, faith-based support, and vocational training as preventive tools.
Affordable treatment left unaddressed
Notably, the event did not address how to make affordable treatment options available to youths struggling with drug abuse. While campaigns on preventative measures are helpful, treatment is also vital to the over 14 million Nigerians suffering from substance use disorders.
In a recent interview with Guardian, Ibrahim Yusuf-Gombe, mental health trainer and Convener, Drug-Free Arewa Movement and Convener Youth Action Network on Substance Abuse, pointed out that access to rehabilitation or some form of neuropsychiatric treatment to enable victims to live free of drug dependency remains a challenge due to the high cost of treatment and limited rehabilitation facilities.
“Ninety per cent of those who are having drug-related problems or drug use disorder, do not have access to treatment because the treatment is expensive and some are afraid of going to psychiatric hospital for fear of being tagged mad people,” he said.
“Treatment in some facilities in Abuja costs as high as N1 million or N600,000 per month. If you are using a government facility, three months is about N400,000, so how can the poor afford it?”
Similarly, President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), Prof Taiwo Obindo, revealed that “only two out of 10 Nigerians have access to mental health care, and we have an increasing number of these cases, lot of them remains to be rehabilitated.
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“Most of our hospitals do not have the unit to keep people that long and for those who are dependent on substances. The average minimum stay for them is about three months, some can stay for a whole year but the facilities for that are not there. So, we don’t have that luxury of keeping them that long.”
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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