One time, a friend and I were out for lunch, after which she had pleaded I escort her to a pharmacy; she needed to get some medications for her mom. I had agreed because I had the time to spare, but then on getting to the pharmacy, I saw her acting all sneaky and speaking in a hushed tone. When I listened closely, I overheard her asking for codeine cough syrup and some other drugs that I knew were contraband.
I just stood there and watched her buy them, after which, as we proceeded to get a cab, I confronted her. Not like it was any of my business because I have heard rumors of her being an addict, but then why did she have to lie? was my concern. At this point it was clear the rumors were true, but then, not to appear as insensitive, I had confronted her in a subtle way.
I thought codeine and tramadol were contraband. I had questioned, so how are you buying it for your mom? She knew I was on to her, so she came out clean and confessed that she is battling insomnia and these drugs helped her sleep. But then knowing she was taking an overdose of these drugs as an addict was just really concerning.
We are quick to blame external forces like the suppliers, the inventors and the system but then how often do we blame the users??
You see, it’s quite unfortunate that drugs meant for medical and health purposes could not fulfill their purpose due to abuse and misuse. Personally I do not think the best approach to this abuse should be outright withdrawal but rather control.
Like in the UK and other advanced societies, these drugs were moved from over-the-counter to prescription only. This action of theirs could be likened to their functioning as contra-pharmaceutical agencies.
Unfortunately we have control agencies in Nigeria, but we don’t see them function, so instead of them checkmating, they would rather withdraw completely. Despite these withdrawals, we see people like my friend find a way to still get access to it.
You see, just like this drug abuse epidemic, we have also seen situations where bandits and terrorists have access to guns. Every time on the news we hear questions like, "Where does the supply come from?"
But then these guns were invented for protection and warfare under state control. That being said, terrorist organization having access to these guns and utilizing it illegally does not make the inventors an accomplice to the crime being perpetrated by these organizations.
Again, like everything with disadvantages, there are always advantages, and most times the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
So, when it comes to apportioning blames, I won’t fault the inventors but the perpetuators. Fact is humans, being one with free will would always utilize inventions how best it suits them.
More so, inventions, no matter how harmless they might seem, would always have those groups of people who would abuse it. Solutions should be tighten the control agencies to be more effective with their duties.