The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has issued a warning to Nigerians about the discovery of a new deadly psychoactive substance that has made its way into various parts of the country.
According to an article by Mahmud Isa Yola, Special Assistant to the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, the substance known as Akuskura comes in several varieties and is used in both liquid and powdered form by people who want to increase their levels of psychological or nervous activity in the body.
Mr Yola explains in his piece that Akuskura is a serious threat to public health and a challenge to drug policy.
The full article, as published by the NDLEA, is shown below:
AKUSKURA: The New Deadly Psychoactive Substance in TownRecently, a dangerous new psychoactive substance known as Akuskura/Kuskura has emerged, which is made of herbs laced with tobacco and cannabis and is rapidly replacing controlled psychoactive substances, primarily in Nigeria's northern and south-western regions. When the substance is consumed, it can cause sudden, violent, and irregular movement of the body as well as muscle contraction.
The name Akuskura, also spelled kuskura or akurkura, is derived from the Hausa word "kuskura" noun, which can mean both gargling and rinsing.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted over 7,000 bottles of the illicit substance along the Abuja-Kaduna express road, slated for distribution across seven northern states: Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe, and Nasarawa.
Although this is the largest seizure to date, the agency has made several arrests and seizures throughout the country.
Following the record-breaking seizure, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, announced the official ban of the psychoactive substance in a press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Abuja on August 19th.
She stated that the agency had received several reports of the use of a herbal preparation known as "Akurkura," particularly in the country's south west and northwestern axis.
The agency swung into action, conducting intelligence and enforcement operations.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines New Psychoactive Substances as "abuse substances, either pure or in preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychoactive Substances but may pose a public health threat."
The term "new" does not always refer to new inventions; several NPS were first synthesized decades ago; rather, it refers to substances that have recently become available on the market.
Akuskura, as a new psychoactive substance, poses a serious threat to public health and a challenge to drug policy.
The negative health effects and social harms of NPS are frequently understudied, making prevention and counseling difficult.
It is difficult to analyze and identify the numerous chemicals present in the drug at the same time.
People who use new psychoactive substances, such as Akuskura, are at a high risk based on the information presented above. According to the UNODC, the use of NPS is frequently associated with health issues.
Seizures, agitation, aggression, and acute psychosis are all possible side effects of NPS, as is the development of dependence. NPS users have frequently been admitted to hospitals with severe intoxications.
Many NPS have no or very limited safety data on their toxicity and carcinogenic potential, and long-term adverse effects or risks are still unknown.
The purity and composition of NPS-containing products are frequently unknown, putting users at risk, as evidenced by hospital emergency admissions and deaths associated with NPS, which frequently include cases of poly-substance use.
Akuskura is widely available under the guise of herbs. They are primarily sold by local herbalists and Islamic chemists.
According to an Akuskura wholesaler in Zaria, the substance was originally intended for the treatment of headaches and catarrh and serves as a poster remedy against jinns and evil spirits.
However, Akuskura's negative impact remains troubling. Akuskura, like all illicit substances, produces a euphoric feeling of being "high" for a short period of time.
There are, however, health-threatening short and long-term effects such as dissociation, violent episodes, psychotic episodes, compulsive desire to commit crime, aggression, perceptual distortion, hallucination, and many others.
During a brief interview with the British Broadcasting Cooperation, BBC Hausa, the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) OFR, said that the agency will continue to dismantle the clandestine factories behind the production of the illicit substance, adding that the recent seizure of over 7,000 bottles by the agency sends a warning to the peddlers of the illicit drug that the NDLEA
This should serve as a warning to users and traffickers to stop.