By City News.
Some ladies in Port Harcourt have reacted to the suggestion put forward by the Chairman of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Mohammed Mustapha Abdalla that single ladies be compelled to get tested for drugs abuse before marriage.
The NDLEA Chairman who spoke while destroying seized illicit substances in Maiduguri had decried the increase in consumption of illicit drugs by ladies across the country.
A good number of those who spoke to City News on Thursday applauded the move and described it as a good development. They confirmed the rising hard drug use among women, especially those that take them as a result of peer pressure.
Stella Amadi, recalled her experience with a single ladies on campus who were addicted to hard drugs.
She said: “When I was in school, there were girls who used to take codeine and tramadol all the time. It affected them badly and I remembered that one of them overdosed and nearly died. Some people don’t know how common drug addiction is among women. That is why I feel that this action should be taken to put some of these women in check. They should not carry drug addiction into their marital homes”.
Another lady simply identified herself as Tina said the high use of drugs even among some married ladies is an area society has been silent on. She claimed ladies indulge in drugs more often than not for fun and to take their minds away from prevailing terrible situations.
“It will shock you how many ladies depend on hard drugs to keep them going. But one thing I can tell you is that it’s continous in-take has always ended in tears. If they conduct drug test on 10 single ladies especially these ones from the universities you will be shocked that 6 might be positive. Many carry the habit and addiction into marriage and it shows when they start raising children that act and behave like them,” she said.
However, a bride-to-be told City News that she does not think the move is a good idea. She said it would be unfair and discriminatory to limit such drug testing to just ladies.
She said: “I saw it in the news and I do not feel the policy is necessary. My fiancée and I are supposed to carry out various tests as required by the church before our wedding, including pregnancy and HIV tests and it is fine because we do them together except the pregnancy.
Personally, I do not use drugs but if they want to introduce this policy, it should be testing both men and women because I feel that men use drugs too, even more than women”.
