TheCable

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has warned Nigerian students against the use of hard drugs to enhance their academic performance.

Mohammad Ibrahim, the NDLEA commander, Kwara command, who spoke on Tuesday, said the small perceived feelings from the drugs would later hurt such a student.

Ibrahim advised that students must resist all forms of pressure that can lead them to drug abuse.

“The consequences of drug abuse can be categorised as social, physiological and physical,” NAN quoted the commander as saying.

“There is a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for reasoning and making decisions.

“It is not fully developed until age 22 or 23 in an individual. So, when being laced with substances, it leads to distortion of perception, thinking and cognitive reasoning, which leads to risky decisions and affects academic performance.”

He said the target of the command is the public, all youths and adults, noting that no human being is immune to drug abuse as addiction cuts across all aspects of life.

“Part of what the command is doing differently is to enhance the working ability of the patrol teams to control the state and also to put more officers on the road to intercept substances coming into the state,” he said.

“NAFDAC is in charge of the licit drugs, while the focus of the NDLEA is on illicit drugs and psychoactive substances, which includes cannabis, cocaine and heroin. These are substances completely banned by the law.”

He added that some substances are not banned but are controlled because they are sometimes abused.