Assessing Nigeria's drug control policy, 1994-2000

Drugs became a public issue in Nigeria by the 1960s with discoveries of cannabis farms in the country, arrests of Nigerian cannabis traffickers abroad, and reports of psychological disorders suspected to be associated with cannabis use. However, it was not until the early 1980s that the problem of drug trafficking had become a major social issue with the potential of disrupting international relations and social stability. This review of Nigeria's drug policy uses data from a variety of sources - published documents, interviews with key informants, periodical literature - to show that the country has traditionally relied on extreme punitive measures to curb supply and discourage demand. Throughout most of the 1990s, in response to U.S. certification demands, these measures were applied in a sustained drug war during which civil liberties were often abused. The paper argues that international collaboration in a reactive drug policy that relies on extreme measures may only succeed in temporarily suppressing the problem of trafficking and use. On the contrary, what Nigeria needs at the moment is a realistic policy that seeks to minimise the harm caused by different drugs; a policy that manages to combine the necessity of curbing supply with a humane commitment to addressing the problems associated with their use. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.