Cannabis cannot be legalized now in Nigeria due to security challenges – NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa

Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa has stated that cannabis cannot be legalised in Nigeria because of its level of abuse.

Marwa stated this on Friday while presenting an address as a guest speaker at the 2021 Ulefunta annual public lecture which held in Ondo state and was organised by Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, the Deji of Akure.

Marwa who was represented by Lanre Ipinmisho, his special adviser on the national drug control master plan (NDCMP) stated that legalising cannabis in Nigeria will worsen the menace of drug abuse, which will also increase insecurity.

“We have seen narco-terrorism in countries like Colombia and Mexico, where drug cartels are law unto themselves and are as powerful, if not more powerful than the state. So, there are real cases, not scenarios, of where and how illicit substances played a role in a society’s rapid descent into chaos and tethering on the brink of a failed state,” he said, according to a statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesman,

“So, the pertinent question for us today is: Have drugs played any role in the festering insecurity in Nigeria? The answer is yes. Of this, we have ample evidence.

“We do not have the luxury of allowing a narcotic economy to take root and thrive in our society. Africa, nay Nigeria, has enough problems without adding the burden of narco-terrorism.

“Of all the known illicit substances, cannabis sativa is the only one that is native to Nigeria and it is the most abused of all illicit drugs, and from the findings of the national drug survey of 2018, cannabis is becoming a national albatross.

“Where cannabis is concerned, we should not by any argument allow ourselves to become the proverbial fool that rushed in where angels fear to tread. Countries like Canada, that are pro-cannabis, have strong and efficient institutions that are way ahead of ours by long mileages.”