The United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has distanced itself from news making the rounds that
the organisation called for the decriminalisation of cannabis (locally known as
Igbo) in Nigeria.
UNODC said this on during its
visit to Senate Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, Abuja, where it made a
presentation at the public hearing on ‘The need to check the rising menace of
pharmaceutical drugs abuse amongst youth in Nigeria’ on March 26, 2018’.
According to the Office’ Outreach
and Communications Officer, Mr. Sylvester Atere, the news totally misquoted the
UNODC views and warned that this could jeopardise its long-existing
relationship with Nigeria.
He explained that, following an
invitation by the Senate Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, UNODC made a
presentation at the public hearing and reiterated the following recommendations
contained in 2017 International Narcotics Control Board, INCB, report, where
the Board urged all governments to:
(a) Gather data on prevalence of
drug-use disorders and the accessibility and utilisation of treatment;
(b) Invest in making treatment
and rehabilitation evidence-based;
(c) Allocate sufficient resources
to treatment and rehabilitation, the two major components of demand reduction;
(d) Pay particular attention to
special population groups;
(e) Share, nationally and
internationally, best practices and build capacity;
(f) Stimulate research into new
interventions.
Atere stated that when being
asked specifically on cannabis, he said “our representative clearly stated that
legalisation of cannabis is not supported by the three UN international drug
conventions (Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 as amended by the 1972
Protocol; Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971; UN convention against
Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988). The UNODC
did not urge Nigeria to legalise cannabis.”
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