The Director-General of NAFDAC,
Moji Adeyeye, disclosed this yesterday at the public launch of drug related
health policies and guidelines in Abuja.
Adeyeye, a professor, said the
impounded Tramadol would have been sold to youth.
Tramadol is an opioid pain
medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. When taken as an
immediate-release oral formulation, the onset of pain relief usually occurs
within about an hour.
According to Adeyeye, Apart from
its pain relieving effects, tramadol has been discovered to give a feeling of
euphoric high when taken in large quantity. When opioids like tramadol are
mixed with alcohol, it increases the effects of the alcohol.
“Using drugs is centrally
controlled or central nervous system-based which means it hits the brain
immediately and it changes the user to somebody else. During the first use and
second use, the brain of the user becomes very different because of dependence.
“They are no longer able to
control themselves and that is where the crime, terrorism come in. Therefore,
please let the word go out that drug use comes with consequences.
“Of course, we are going after
the peddlers. As we speak, we just intercepted two lorries full of tramadol
this morning. And where are they going? They are going to the Ajegunles of
Nigeria, to the Kanos of Nigeria. Who are they targeting? Our children.
Therefore, we need to all come in. It’s our business”, the NAFDAC boss said.
She said many youth were dying of
drug overdose because it was very easy for them to access addictive drugs.
She also called on the National
Assembly to amend the law such that drug peddlers could be given stiffer
penalties.
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