The Commandant of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, in Ogun State, Jane Ibiba Odili, has drawn attention to a worrying trend that women are increasingly falling into drug addiction more than men.
According to Daily Post, Odili emphasized the urgent need for women to seek help, noting a significant rise in female drug abusers in the state.
She expressed concern over the 35 cases recorded in 2023, primarily involving women aged 15-30, often influenced by partners, peer pressure, and economic hardships.
Odili’s call to action underscores the critical importance of addressing this growing issue and providing support for those affected.
She said, “The female body is a bit more complicated than that of the male counterpart, so because of that, when women abuse drugs, they get easily addicted than the men and also have more challenges going off drugs than men.
“Because of their community roles as caregivers and nurturers, we discovered that when there is a problem of drug abuse, women tend to suffer more.”
The commandant revealed that among female abusers in the state, a notable trend is the use of locally cultivated substances like ‘Fenuja’, ‘Skushis’, and weed.
“There is a trend we have discovered so far among drug users, especially women in the state; a lot of our women folks are involved in alcohol and what we’re saying now is that there are different concoctions.
“You know in the past, you just had one alcohol mixed but now you have different kinds of roots, different kinds of substances mixed with alcohol.”
“We have ‘skushi’. We even have one that is locally called ‘fenu ja’ which is very common among women, they will just put it inside their mouth.
“Then we have cannabis which is known as weed, sold on the street and is also cultivated in Ogun State; so, because it’s cultivated here, it is available, accessible and affordable.
“We also see the consumption of cough syrup containing codeine, which is also very commonly used among our women folk and then tramadol which is originally a pain killer but highly abused by both sex.
“Between last year and this year, we can say on average, there’s a general increase for the males and the females but, I want to make a sub clarification for female drug abusers.
“Women who are involved in drug abuse in our communities are ashamed and afraid to come out. So these records might not be able to realistically capture the number of women,” she added.
She also mentioned that the command is implementing strategies in line with Nigeria’s national drug policies to assist women who are drug abusers.
