Drug Abuse: Prayer Can’t Cure Mental Illness – NDLEA

The Ogun State Commandant of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Jane Ibiba Odili, has disclosed that fasting and prayers can not cure mental illness caused by abuse of drugs.

Odili who bemoaned the use of flogging, starvation, and prayers to solve mental illness, explained that drug abuse is not a spiritual attack but a chronic brain disorder that requires professional treatment.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, Odili stressed that abusers suffer from the problem of addiction and dependence hence punitive measures should be avoided.

“Yes, international best practices and a body of research have shown that you don’t use punitive measures to treat somebody who abuses drugs because research has shown that drug abuse is a chronic brain disorder.

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“Even if you tie the person down from today till tomorrow the body is already asking for the drugs, the body is already relying on the drugs, it is a problem of addiction and dependence, It is not flogged away, it is not starved away, if somebody has the drug abuse problem it’s better to take the person to the hospital and it is not a spiritual attack even if you fast for 10 days it will not do anything.”

The Ogun NDLEA boss, however, explained that, prayers can come after professional treatment, love, support, and care have been administered.

“There is nothing wrong with praying, there is nothing wrong with sharing the words of God it’s also part of the treatment people being used, we can also use the words of God to sensitize them, to give them encouragement and support but the truth is that they must also have the professional treatment.

“It is not a moral issue, it is not something you beat out of somebody it is a disease, you provide treatment, you provide support, and you provide care,” she added.