Parents have been advised to monitor their children against indulging in drug abuse.
The Programme Manager of the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) Mrs Evelyn Joseph, gave the advice in Enugu on Friday while speaking to news men.
The programme manager urged parents to make time for their children in order to know what they were doing.
She added that this would enable the parents to discover early traces of drug use among them to avoid escalating into drug abuse.
Joseph noted that West Africa, including Nigeria, remain a key transit point for drug trafficking, adding that, “in late 2017, Lagos Custom seized 115 tons of Tramadol.”
According to her, “a survey conducted by National Bureau of Statistics and Centre for Research and Information in Substance Abuse showed that 14.3 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64 had used drugs.
“The survey further showed that 22.4 per cent of drug abusers are in the South West; 16.2 per cent in the South-South; 13.8 per cent in the South East, 13.2 per cent in the North East.
”12.0 per cent in the North West and 10.4 per cent in the North Central,” she said.
Joseph noted that drug abusers could be treated and re-integrated back to the society.
She, however, noted that the society had adopted drug counselling to encourage and motivate the abusers to reduce their drug use-related risks.
Joseph regretted that a lot of young ones are going into drug without knowing the effect of what they are going into.
She said that many drug abusers who were dependent find it difficult to come for counselling and treatment to avoid being stigmatised by the member of the society.
The programme manager urged members of the public not to stigmatise against drug abusers but should rather see them as individuals in dire need of help to enable them come out of their situation.