The agency therefore assured to continue destroying the clandestine factories behind the production of the illicit substance.
Nigerians have been cautioned by the anti-narcotics agency, the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) about the appearance of a new, lethal psychoactive chemical that has spread across the country.
According to an article written by Mahmud Isa Yola, Special Assistant to the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, the chemical known as Akuskura comes in a variety of forms and is taken by people primarily to increase their levels of psychological or nerve activity in the body.
Yola, in his piece, further explains that Akuskura represents a serious threat to public health and poses a challenge for drug policy.
The agency therefore assured to continue destroying the clandestine factories behind the production of the illicit substance.
It also added that the recent seizure of over 7,000 bottles by the agency sends a warning to the peddlers of the illicit drug to desist from engaging in such felony.
He wrote, “AKUSKURA: The New Deadly Psychoactive Substance in Town; recently, there has been a rapid emergence of a dangerous new psychoactive substance known as Akuskura/Kuskura, which is made of herbs laced with tobacco and cannabis and which is rapidly replacing controlled psychoactive substances, dominantly in the northern and south-west parts of Nigeria. When taken, the substance sometimes causes sudden, violent, irregular movement of the body and contraction of muscles.
“The name Akuskura, sometimes known as kuskura or akurkura, is derived from the Hausa word “kuskura” noun, which can be used interchangeably to mean gargling and rinsing.
“The substance, which is of different varieties, is used in both liquid and powdered form by people who mostly seek to raise their levels of psychological or nervous activity in the body, or put it in simple terms, get high.
“Akuskura came into the front-line on social and conventional media when the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, intercepted over seven thousand bottles of the illicit substance along the Abuja-Kaduna express road, slated for distribution across seven northern states of Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe and Nasarawa. Although the seizure is the biggest made so far, there were several arrests and seizures made by the agency in different parts of the country.
“Following the record-breaking seizure, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, in a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on August 19th, made the announcement of the official ban of the psychoactive substance.
“She said the agency received a number of reports of the use of a herbal preparation known as “Kurkura,” particularly in the country’s South West and Northern axis.The agency swung into action and carried out intelligence and enforcement actions.
“As a new psychoactive substance, Akuskura represents a serious threat to public health and poses a challenge for drug policy. The negative health impacts and social harms of NPS are frequently largely unexplored, which makes prevention and counseling extremely difficult.
“It is difficult to analyse and identify the many different chemicals that are simultaneously present in the drug. The above facts place people who take new psychoactive substances such as Akuskura at a high risk. According to the UNODC, the use of NPS is often linked to health problems.
“In general, side effects of NPS range from seizures to agitation, aggression, and acute psychosis, as well as potential development of dependence. NPS users have frequently been hospitalised with severe intoxications.
“Another factor that aids the prevalence of Kuskura is its affordable price. With a bottle sold at the cost of N100 and sometimes a drip for N50, the Akuskura is affordable even to a low-income earner.
“Thirdly, the substance gives both hallucinogenic and stimulant effects to its users. Hence, it is filling the void of controlled substances, which are now very scarce due to the surge of arrests and seizures by the NDLEA.”
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) OFR, during a brief interview with the British Broadcasting Cooperation, BBC Hausa, said that the agency would continue to dismantle the clandestine factories behind the production of the illicit substance.