The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has defended the criminalisation of marijuana use in Nigeria as opposed to several other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

Its Secretary, Shadrack Haruna, said there was “a lot of misconception” about decriminalising the use of drugs, saying there are different species of cannabis grown worldwide.

Haruna said the species they have, which they say they have decriminalised in some of those countries, are those without Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active ingredient that makes one to be something else.

In those countries, enforcement is strict, he explained, arguing further that not so many countries, including the United States, have “actually said they have decriminalised some of these drugs, none, including the United Kingdom.

According to the NDLEA secretary, the UK used to allow the importation of cannabinol, which he said is used for some kinds of medical treatment.

“But of late, they have also restricted it because they’ve noticed the increasing content of cannabinol in that particular oil,” he said.

Haruna said while some argue for its commercialisation in Nigeria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised that the harmful impact of cannabis outweighs its benefits.

“Some people are saying, ‘We make a lot of money from it.’ But it is not money we are looking for. We are looking for the health of the nation. We’re looking for the well-being of individuals,” he said.

“But they are talking about the commercialisation of drugs and all those things. To me, it is a misconception, which of course the media should come out against it because we know that it’s something that is wrong for this country.”