The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has raised an alarm over the escalating cases of drug abuse across the sub-region.
Dr Daniel Amankwa, ECOWAS Principal Programme Officer, Drug Prevention and Control, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Amankwa spoke on the sidelines of the validation of the 2025 West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU) report.
He said that regional drug monitoring exercise was critical to understanding evolving trends and guiding evidence-based interventions across member states.
Amankwa decried the rapidly changing landscape of drug abuse and trafficking across the region, and the emergence of new synthetic substances.
According to him, the rising cocaine trafficking and weakening family structures are fuelling an increasingly complex public health and security crisis.
He explained that the validation meeting was aimed at enabling member countries to verify and harmonise drug-related data submitted to the ECOWAS Commission before publication of the regional report.
“The WENDU report is a report of what is happening regarding drug abuse, illicit drug trafficking and related crimes in West Africa.
“Every year, member states collect data and submit it to the ECOWAS Commission. We compile the information into a regional report and invite them to validate it to ensure accuracy,” he explained.
The programme officer noted that although the 2025 report was still undergoing validation and could not yet be discussed conclusively, findings from the completed 2024 report revealed worrying trends across the region.
Amankwa identified cannabis as the most widely consumed illicit drug in West Africa, while synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs were becoming increasingly prevalent.
“Marijuana remains the highest consumed illicit drug in the region.
“However, we are also seeing a sharp rise in new psychoactive substances, including high-dose tramadol, Kush and other illicit pharmaceutical products whose chemical compositions have been altered,” he said.
“The concern is not legitimate pharmaceutical products but counterfeit and illegally modified drugs containing dangerously high dosages.
“We are talking about tramadol that should ordinarily contain 50 milligrams but is now found in 200, 250, 300, 400 and even 500 milligram formulations being abused,” he further said.
Amankwa also disclosed that cocaine trafficking was expanding rapidly across West Africa.
“The 2024 report showed that cocaine arrests and seizures doubled across the region.
“Preliminary indications suggest that this trend is continuing in 2025, although the data are not yet conclusive,” he said.
The programme officer stressed that drug abuse was also imposing enormous social and economic costs on West African societies, particularly among young people.
He explained that drug dependence creates a vicious cycle linking addiction, unemployment and poverty.
“When people become addicted, it becomes difficult for them to work effectively. That contributes to unemployment, which in turn fuels poverty.
“At the same time, poverty itself can push some people into drug use. It is a cycle that reinforces itself,” he said.
Amankwa added that drug abuse also contributed significantly to criminal activities, as individuals struggling with drug dependence often resort to crime to finance their addiction.
“The impact is enormous. It affects the economy because productivity declines. It affects health. It fuels crime.
“It also weakens families and social values. If parents are addicted to drugs, we can imagine the consequences for their children,” he said.
He said that tackling the drug abuse crisis required addressing its root causes rather than relying solely on arrests and seizures.
Amankwa also noted that drug trafficking networks constantly adapted to enforcement efforts by introducing new substances and concealment methods.
“Each time law enforcement develops strategies against one drug or trafficking method, another substance or concealment technique emerges.
“That is why the problem appears persistent. It is not necessarily because authorities are doing nothing; the criminal networks continue to evolve,” he said.
The ECOWAS official called for a comprehensive strategy centred on four pillars: strengthening families, prevention through education, effective law enforcement and accessible treatment for people with drug use disorders.
According to him, rebuilding family values should be the foremost priority.
“We need to strengthen family values so that parents are able to guide their children effectively. If we fail at the family level, we are merely cutting branches while leaving the root untouched,” he said.
He also called for drug education to begin at an early age, saying: “drug prevention should not wait until secondary school. Young people must understand the dangers and misconceptions surrounding drugs before they are exposed to them.”
Among the misconceptions, he said, is the belief held by some students that substances such as tramadol enhance intelligence or academic performance.
“These are dangerous deceptions that prevention programmes must address,” he said.
Amankwa urged governments to expand treatment and rehabilitation services for individuals already suffering from addiction, while reducing stigma.
He suggested that online counselling and virtual treatment platforms could help more people seek assistance without fear of discrimination.
“Many people who have drug use disorders are highly intelligent and productive individuals. They need treatment and support, not rejection. We must create confidential avenues for counselling and rehabilitation,” he stressed.
On regional cooperation, he noted that collaboration among anti-drug agencies within ECOWAS had improved considerably in recent years.
He noted that member states increasingly conducted joint training, intelligence sharing and coordinated operations against transnational drug trafficking networks.
“We have seen encouraging improvements. Agencies are working together more than before, conducting joint operations and exchanging expertise. However, there is still room for greater cooperation,” he said.
Amankwa emphasised that building trust among national institutions remained essential for effective intelligence sharing.
“Drug control relies heavily on intelligence. Countries must trust one another before they can confidently exchange sensitive information. Building that trust takes time, but it is improving,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that West Africa has continued to confront increasingly sophisticated drug trafficking organisations and emerging synthetic substances over the years.
ECOWAS has maintained that strengthening prevention, treatment, intelligence cooperation and family resilience was essential for reversing the sub-region’s growing drug challenge.
