FG constitutes 2 committees on drug abuse

The federal government has constituted two committees to address the menace of drug abuse in the country. The committee is expected to review drug laws with focus on drug barons and decriminalization of drug users while coming up with a framework to dismantle open drug markets in the country.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole who made this known in Kano during the Daily Trust seminar on tackling drug abuse in the North, revealed that one of the committees is the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) and the Ministerial Committee to comprehensively tackle the menace of drug abuse.

The seminar was themed ‘Tackling the Challenges of Drug Abuse in the North’.

The minister who was represented by the Director Food and Drug Services, Pharmacist Moshood Oloku Lawal, added that the presidency has already commenced preparatory work for the inauguration of the committees.

The minister added that one of the measures being contemplated to curb the menace of drug abuse was the restriction of the production and sale of codeine to licensed pharmacies in private and public health institutions for effective monitoring and control.