Despite the efforts of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at curbing the increase in the use and sales of marijuana, it seems more people are getting addicted to it, writes Kunle Awosiyan.

NIGERIA's booming marijuana trade is more than the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) can handle, Commander Okey Ihebom, the agency's commander in Edo state, a centre of the trade, told a major newspaper last week. An undermanned, under-equipped, and under-budgeted anti-drug agency can't compete with rising domestic and international demand and few other economic options for northern farmers, he said. In its 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the US State Department noted that "marijuana/cannabis is grown all over Nigeria, but mainly in central and northern states. Cultivation is generally on small fields in remote areas. Its market is concentrated in West Africa and Europe; none is known to have found its way to the United States. However, domestic use is becoming more widespread. The NDLEA has destroyed marijuana fields, but has no regular, organized eradication programme in place. There are no reliable figures to determine cr! op size and yields."

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