Monday, June 30, 2008

Kano battles spread of strange 'chemical' among youths
From Adamu Abuh, Kano

KANO State government has expressed concern over the disastrous effects of a chemical item identified as rubber solution abused by youths in the state.

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A section of youths in the state, it was learnt, had formed the habit of sniffing the substance, which makes them to lose self-control and sometimes become unconscious.

Director-General of the Directorate of Societal Re-orientation, Dr. Bala Mohammed, while speaking with journalists shortly after a seminar on "Youths Against Drug Abuse" at the weekend, lamented the ugly trend among youths in the state, adding that the substance known as Adai daita Sahu, which is bought as glue, was used for other illicit acts by youths.

He said: "While we agree that bicycle repairers and others are doing their legitimate trade by dealing in rubber solution, we still believe there could be a deliberate ploy by some unscrupulous persons to destroy our youths with this harmful substance. I say so because why do we have one million sticks of this substance required by only a handful of persons in our market?"

Mohammed disclosed that the one million sticks of glue had been confiscated by officials of his outfit, in conjunction with members of the Hisba Board after a raid of the Kofar Ruwa Market recently.

He stated that his organisation had approached the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to explore means of regulating the sale of the substance to members of the public.

Kano State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Nicholas Walter, said the agency was handicapped over the issue of the abuse of the rubber solution.

Nevertheless, he said he organised a meeting with members of the Association of Rubber Solution Dealers in Kano to explore means of ensuring that the end-users of the product were the deserving persons in the state.