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Abuse of Stimulant Drugs in Nigeria
Author(s) -
Oviasu V. O.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
british journal of addiction to alcohol and other drugs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0007-0890
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1976.tb00060.x
Subject(s) - stimulant , substance abuse , medicine , psychiatry , amphetamine , incidence (geometry) , physics , optics , dopamine
Summary Abuse of drugs is becoming more common in Nigeria. This article reviews 491 casts of abuse of amphetamines and proplus (caffeine) seen at the Usetu Nervous Diseases Clinic, Benin City during the period 1969 to 1972. Of the 360young people (322 males and 38 females) abusing amphetamine, 67–2 per cent were wider the age of 20, and 80 per cent of them were students attending secondary grammar schools. Of the 131 young people (116 males and 15 females) abusing proplus 76–3 per cent of them were under the age of 20, and 95–4 per cent of them were students. Amphetamine has turned out to be the most popular stimulant drug abused in Nigeria, The pattern of abuse in Nigeria is described and the ways in which it is different from the pattern seen in the United Kingdom is discussed. The case of availability of drugs playing a major role in the abuse of these drugs is emphasized. Only 2 per cent of the total 491 young people came from homes where the stability had been interrupted by death, divorce or parental separation before they were ten years old. The psychiatric illness associated with abuse of amphetamines and proplus are mentioned. The similarity between some of the symptomatology found in this series and the “brain fag syndrome” is pointed out and the question of whether abuse of stimulant drugs may be a factor in the causation of “brain fag” is raised. The need for early preventive measures to reduce the incidence and consequences of drug abuse is emphasized.