The Young Men Christian Association (YMCA Liberia) has called on the Liberian Senate to take decisive measures in enacting laws to fight against the trafficking and use of illicit drugs in the country.
Development Dairies reports that YMCA-Liberia made the call as part of its activity commemorating International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
It is estimated that two in ten youths in Liberia are users of narcotic substances, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
It is understood that factors influencing the growing population of ‘at-risk youth’ in Liberia include peer pressure, poverty, sexual and physical abuse, weak family support system, and intergenerational drug use.
‘The value of our youth cannot be realised in the presence of drug abuse. Our young people cannot thrive when recreational centres are found in the ghettoes. The effects of drugs are dismantling the future we envision for our youth’, President of YMCA-Liberia’s, Ebenezer Davis, said.
Davis criticised the current low-scale involvement in the fight against illicit drugs and substance abuse among Liberia’s youths, calling for a swift and critical review of existing drug policies and emphasising the urgent need for the passage of the National Drugs Law to align with the national approach.
Photo source: YMCA-Liberia
