The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) declared on Thursday that legalizing cannabis smoking will return Nigeria to its dark days.
Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), the agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive, stated this at an interactive session with heads of security agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and heads of government agencies in Jos, Plateau, while rejecting demands for Cannabis legalization.
Some Nigerians have advocated for the drug’s legalization for health and economic reasons.
But Marwa said that legalising cannabis would truncate its ongoing fight against drug abuse, stressing that such a move would also take Nigeria back to its dark days.
He revealed that 10.6 Nigerians were currently consuming cannabis, adding that legalising it would further destroy the nation.
“NDLEA rejects absolutely the call for the legalisation of cannabis; it is a choice between earning money and the importance of life
“There is no research about the healing qualities of cannabis, but we all know on the other hand that it causes brain disorder, psychosis, it destroys the lungs and other key organs of the body.
” It definitely affects one’s behaviour as well.
“NDLEA will not accept that; we in NDLEA reject the move in totality,” he noted.
The NDLEA boss admonished security agencies and other stakeholders to support the agency in its bid to curb the tide of drug abuse in the nation.