Skip to main content

Drug Abuse: Senate Initiates 2 Bills

Nigerian-Senate
The Senate has developed two draft bills for legislation to tackle drug abuse.
This was part of the outcome of the roundtable convened by the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, in December 2017 in Kano on the rising drug abuse in the country.
The proposed bills are National Drug Control Bill and National Mental Health Bill.
A statement by the Media Office of the President of the Senate said the Drug Control Bill seeks to clarify the mandate and strengthen the capacity of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to eradicate the illicit production, and trafficking of controlled substances.
“It also seeks to establish a central mechanism to facilitate collaboration among law enforcement, regulatory and public health authorities in line with the National Drug Control Policy.
“The Bill further focuses on proactive law enforcement and regulatory measures towards the eradication of the illicit importation, production and trafficking of controlled substances.”
The statement further said the bill sought to criminalise the diversion, distribution or otherwise dispensing of controlled substances without a prescription or license.
On mental health bill, the statement noted that, in recognition of the fact that psychosocial issues are the key drivers for the abuse of the psychoactive substance, the bill was crafted to ensure that standard facilities were available in every state to provide mental health and substance abuse services.
The proposed law guarantees the protection of the rights of people with mental illness and stipulates that mental health practitioners and facilities no longer engage in practices that are harmful to people with mental health and substance use disorders.
In recognising the low number of mental health practitioners in the country with the ratio of practitioners at one psychiatrist to 1.6 million people, the draft law makes provision for quality mental health and substance abuse services available for women and adolescents, who are an underserved segment of the population.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kano police arrest man impersonating Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi with a verified Instagram page

                              The Kano state police command have arrested the man impersonating the Emir of Kano on Instagram. The man runs a verified Instagram page with 262, 000 followers with claims that he is the Emir. The monarch last year denied running an Instagram page which a lot of Nigerians were following. The monarch in a statement released by his media aide, Alhaji Munir Sanusi, said he never authorized anyone to open Instagram, Facebook, Twitter ir any other social media accounts.  After many months of manhunt, the impersonator was arrested and is currently cooling his heels in the state police command. He will be arraigned in court for impersonation.
Post a Comment
Read more

Photos, Three killed in Osun bank robbery attack

Dare devil armed robbers today attacked a new generation commercial bank in Ila-Orangun, Osun state killing three persons, including police security.                                              The suspected armed robbers, numbering about eight, were said to have stormed the bank at about 2pm and operated for one- and- a half hours after blasting the bank’s security door with an explosive substance. A substantial amount of money was carted away from the bank.  Two other victims killed by the armed robbers were said to be hit by stray bullets while a number of people sustained various degrees of injury while trying to flee the scene. Eyewitness said police officers arrived the scene almost immediately and engaged the robbers in a fierce gun battle. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Welder arrested for allegedly killing his wife's female friend during a confrontation in Ogun state

                            A welder identified as Bidemi Akande has been arrested after he allegedly killed his wife's friend, Shakirat Fatusi, a.k.a Olopa during an argument in the Ogba Ayo area of Ogun state. According to reports, Mr. Akande pushed Shakirat who was the breadwinner of her family and a mother of seven to the floor. She slammed her head on the ground and went into coma. She later died at the trado-medical center in Ogun state. The two reportedly didn't see eye to eye after Shakirat intervened in a quarrel between Bidemi Akande and his wife.  They got into an argument after Mr. Akande made derogatory comments about the victim when she came to his wife's shop to buy stuff.  Narrating what happened to Punch, one of Shakirat's children, Bashirat Fatusi said Akande promised that her mother would regain consciousness after 24 hours, adding that instead, her cond...
Post a Comment
Read more