A media expert, Mr. Sam Dogitimi has called on the Senator Douye Diri-led Bayelsa state government to set up a rehabilitation center for drug addicts in each of the eight Local Government Areas in the state to drastically reduce the impact of hard drugs on youths.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Sam lamented the prevalence of illicit substance abuse in the state, insisting that the ugly trend can be minimized if and only when people begin to see it as a societal problem.
Narrating his struggles with smoking and binge drinking in the past, the publisher of mangrovepen.ng expressed that he may have forayed into substance taking if not for God’s intervention in his life.
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The Abuja-based media entrepreneur observed that nowadays girls have become bigger drug users than their male counterparts, urging people to speak up against the menace.
He equally called out those dealing in the sale of hard drugs and advised them to stop the illegal business, saying they cannot be destroying lives to make money.
The post reads in part:
“I told myself I won’t smoke or drink again in my life. But two weeks after leaving the town, I was inside the club, drinking spirits and smoking cigarettes.
“It took me another year to stop cigarettes. Who knows if I would have graduated into taking cocaine, heroin, etcetera if God had not rescued me from the habit?
“So many people have gone mad smoking weed, skunk, cocaine, and other hard substances. So many people spend all their income and investments to satisfy the urge.
“So many fine boys and fine girls are now looking funny due to excessive intake of hard substances.
“I think the state government needs to provide, equip and fund rehabilitation centers across the eight LGAs, particularly in the council headquarters.
“Perhaps we should also start talking to our loved ones who can’t control their urge any longer for their own interest and ours too, as their addiction also affects us, directly and indirectly. I am pleading for us to do whatever we can to help reduce the negative trend in our communities.
“It appears some young girls are now doing drugs more than even their male counterparts and this disturbs me a lot. Let us not be quiet and allow our future mothers, fathers, and leaders to destroy themselves.
“It is my plea that, in doing the above, we must also commit to not condemn any drug user as most of the substances are highly addictive and it is beyond them to stop, hence the call for rehabs that will do their work perfectly.”
