Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, has explained why can*abis cannot be legalised in Nigeria right now.
Speaking at an event in Akure, Ondo State, the NDLEA Chief Executive said, the proliferation of illicit dr*gs often engenders a pattern of crime, ch*os and confl*ct. In the advanced world, it is the driver of high crime rate and vi*lent k*llings in the inner cities. In developing or Third World countries, it is the escalator of strife, pogroms and civil w*r, and has played a big role in countries t*rn to pieces by tribal war.
According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesperson, Marwa said, “We have seen narco-terrorism in countries like Colombia and Mexico where dr*g cartels are law unto themselves and are as powerful, if not more powerful, than the State. So, there are real cases, not scenarios, of where and how illicit substances played a role in a societys rapid descent into chaos and tettering on the brink of a failed state.
So the pertinent question for us today is: Has dr*gs played any role in the festering insecurity in Nigeria? The answer is yes. Of this we have ample evidence.
Considering the intractable burden of insecurity facing the country, we do not have the luxury of allowing a narcotic economy to take root and thrive in our society. Africa, nay, Nigeria has enough problems without adding the burden of narco-terrorism.
Of all the known illicit substances, can*abis sativa is the only one that is native to Nigeria and it is the most ab*sed of all illicit dr*gs, and from the findings of the National dr*g Survey of 2018, cannabis is becoming a national albatross.
As far as NDLEA is concerned, can*abis remains an illicit substance. The Agency shall always canvass against its cultivation, possession, trafficking and sales, and use. And offenders will face the wrath of the law. And, if I may add, our conviction rate is 90% successful.”
