FrontNG

By  Vincent Oghenerukevwe. Warri - The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised serious concerns over the lack of adequate legal backing to tackle the growing menace of substance abuse beyond conventional narcotics in Nigeria. The agency warned that existing laws are outdated and do not reflect the evolving realities of substance misuse across the country. Established by Decree No. 48 of January 1990, the NDLEA is mandated to combat the cultivation, processing, trafficking, and sale of hard drugs. However, experts and stakeholders argue that the agency’s current legal framework is too limited to address the rising abuse of non-controlled substances, including common household and industrial products increasingly being misused for psychoactive effects. Officials noted that apart from Section 13 of the NDLEA Act—which was repealed in 2003—no significant legislative amendments have been made to strengthen the agency’s powers. This failure by successive administrations t...