Loins Club To Check Drug Abuse Amongst Students

Worried by the growing cases of drug abuse in the society and the resultant upsurge in criminal activities perpetuated by those within the teenage age bracket, the Lions Club International has flagged off a sensitization programme on Drug Abuse to tackle the menace.
The initiative which is targeted at secondary school students in Cross River is expected to acquaint the students with the various types of drugs,effects of abuse and the associated pose to their academic and future respectively.
Speaking at the lunch of the awareness campaign held at Government Secondary schools Henshaw Town, in Calabar, South,president of Calabar Royal Leo Lions Club Region 4 , Ekeng Ekeng stated that the campaign has become imperative to urgently tackle the prevailing menace.
He opined that the Club adopted the initiative as part of it’s humanitarian posture towards creating a better society and protecting the future of the vulnurable children against negative influence .
He disclosed that the campaign would cut across the three senatorial districts of the state while plans are also underway to expand the scope of the targeted audience for optimum impact
Also speaking, a member of the club and Chief Press Secretary, Calabar South Local Government,Nkese Eneyo appealed to the students to shun peer influence contrary to acceptable norms and morale but should rather focus on their academics to gaurantee a bright future.
In his presentation, a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Works, University of Calabar,Dr Bassey Ikpeme listed the commonly abused drugs to include alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and tobbacco warning that abuse alter the mode and perception of an individual while exposing the fellow to avoidable dangers.
In her paper, the second resource person Dr Hannah Etta listed other effects of drug abuse amongst students to include impaired vision, difficulty in understanding the teacher, brain demage and poor academic performance.