Sir: Simply put, International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12, each year to raise awareness about the challenges and issues faced by young people around the world, as well as to promote their potential.

The United Nations, according to reports, designated International Youth Day as an opportunity to highlight various themes and topics that are relevant to young people, such as education, employment, mental health, human rights, civic engagement, and social inclusion, particularly, as youngsters make up a significant demographic group whose health, mindset and education can help shape the future of our planet. The first International Youth Day was celebrated on August 12, 2000.

Among social challenges facing the youth, it was clearly stated that the consumption of drugs in amounts and methods not authorised by medical professionals has become but a silent reality that Nigerians should worry about. Noting that though the act cuts across all strata, powerful statistics make it abundantly clear that the youths-majorly males with a sprinkle of females remain undefeated in this act.

While a drug is any substance other than food or water which when taken into the body affect the way the system functions, it is noted that drug consumption in amounts or methods not authorised by medical professionals have in the past led to mental disorder, disrupted the abuser's education and future, poor attitude to work, health problems such as lung disease, heart disease and deaths among others. A grave problem we must solve if we are to live a healthy life is the intakes of junks and other unhealthy lifestyles, as evidence abounds that it claims more lives than drug abuse.

It was also revealed that living with an active drug abuser - for example, a husband automatically makes the wife a passive substance abuser, of which the adverse effect resulting from such an arrangement in most cases appears more pronounced on the passive abuser.

In view of the above reality, we have all, like J.P Clark, a literary giant noted in his poem; 'the casualty', become casualties of drug-related abuses.

Further supporting this assertion are some reports from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), made available to the participants, which explain that drug dependency is both physical and psychological.

In physical dependence, the person using a drug over a period of time would have developed an intense reliance on drugs, often to avoid difficult withdrawal symptoms. The person will often crave (strong desire) to use the drugs despite the damaging consequences to their physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Drug users can also experience psychological dependence in which they believe it is necessary to use a drug to function sometimes just at social gatherings or all the time.

However, despite these scary pictures, participants were unanimous in hope and agreed without any shadow of the doubt that winning the war against illicit drugs in the country is achievable.

Aside from drug abuse being a major influencing factor for all forms of crimes, youth's involvement in drug abuse has brought about an unprecedented breakdown in society and family values, increase in school dropout, and low productivity - damage that will make it very difficult to curb.

This challenge from what experts are saying is further nourished by our unwillingness to collectively assist the abusers to focus on un-learning such negative behaviours and in its place develop the required skills and positive attitudes to achieve a drug-free society as currently preached the world over.

Very regrettably, in abandoning this responsibility, one fact we fail to remember is that drug dependence is not based on a personal weakness or lack of morals on the part of the abuser but a chronic relapsing medical condition - a reality that in my opinion qualifies these people for our love and not vilification or abandonment.

For a better understanding of the plights of the abusers, we must begin to imagine what it would look like if those drug abusers were to be from our families. We can imagine ourselves participating in the funerals of our dear ones that passed on, no thanks to substance abuse.

In all, for us to win this war, all hands must be on deck. We must learn to be good role models and empower young people to deal with life challenges and stay away from substance abuse. We can achieve this by forming drug-free clubs in our schools and also making drug education part of the curricula of primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. Teenagers need to get accurate and detailed information about substance use from trusted and reliable adults, be it a parent or a teacher.

Jerome-Mario Utomi, a media specialist, wrote from Lagos. He could be reached via [email protected]