The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) have called for an evidence-based approach to shape Nigeria’s policy on cannabis and its derivatives.

NDLEA chairman Buba Marwa (rtd) made the call at a stakeholders’ workshop on cannabis oil use, organised by NAS on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Marwa said the workshop reflected NDLEA’s commitment to science-driven strategies in tackling drug-related challenges while protecting public health and promoting national development.

He noted that in 2023, the agency launched the Alternative Development Project—the first of its kind in Africa—to address the impact of illicit drug cultivation and production.

According to him, the initiative aims to reduce the vulnerabilities of communities driven to drug cultivation by ignorance, poverty, hunger, unemployment, and underdevelopment.

“The project demands ethical responsibility and commitment to develop transformative policies and humanitarian responses that will end the complexities and violence associated with the war on drugs,” he said.

Mr Marwa said the NDLEA would continue to pursue community-based interventions that promote sensitisation, skills acquisition, and empowerment as sustainable alternatives to drug cultivation.

He also said illicit drug farming not only fuelled transnational organised crime but also compelled some agricultural communities to abandon food crop cultivation for cannabis plantations.

“We intend to reduce these vulnerabilities both in urban centres and rural areas through the provision of functional mechanisms and facilities for sensitisation, skills acquisition, empowerment, and positive engagements for sustainable livelihoods,” he said.

In his welcome remark, the president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Abubakar Sambo, noted that several research studies had considered various uses of cannabis and its side effects.

Mr Sambo, represented by the academy’s vice president, Friday Okonofua, said that the workshop was aimed at reaching a consensus on the contentious issue of the use of cannabis oil.

“At the end of the day, we’ll have evidence-based consensus work, which will be properly documented, that will lead us to decide what we should be doing regarding the use of cannabis in this country,” he said.

Also speaking, chairman of the NAS Study Committee on Cannabis Oil Use, Musbau Akanbi, commended NDLEA for being proactive and working with the Academy to obtain a science-driven guide for Nigeria.

Mr Akanbi said, “As we all know, cannabis oil is extracted from cannabis, and the legalisation of the use of the oil will translate to large-scale cultivation of the weed itself.

“The Nigerian Academy of Science consequently constitutes the consensus study committee on the cannabis oil debate, comprising experts in all fields that had to do with the study request.

“The committee collected a lot of literature on the subject matter from all over the world, reviewed what is happening in other lands, and decided to arrange this workshop. This is where experts from various related fields will come together with stakeholders and present evidence that will be collated to assist NDLEA in carrying out its honest responsibility.”

In his remarks, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, represented by Samuel Adekola, stated that the workshop would provide Nigeria with the opportunity to transition from debate to design and from potential to policy.

In his keynote address, Oye Gureje, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences, and Substance Abuse, University of Ibadan, said that cumulative evidence suggested that cannabis had some limited medical use.

Mr Gureje noted that widespread recreational use of cannabis could raise the risk of psychosis and moderately impact public health, including an increase in road accidents.

(NAN)