Causes of drug abuse among youth in Kenya

  

Date Posted: 9/4/2012 2:15:24 AM

Posted By: SimonMburu  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 838

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Drug abuse has unfortunately become part of our lives nowadays. From primary schools to universities, youth have indulged in drugs and they are the major customers of our local drug cartels. It's not unfamiliar to get a 15 year old school kid smoking or taking alcohol among other substances.

Below are some of the major reasons why youth embrace drugs.

1. Peer pressure: Around 95 percent of young people consume drugs because they were introduced to them by their peers. Peer pressure is very high in learning institutions especially secondary schools therefore making majority of the students vulnerable to drug abuse. With this being the major cause of drug abuse, young people are advised to choose their friends wisely and avoid bad companies.

2. Seeking courage: Many young people are quite shy during their adolescent stage and therefore they tend to embrace drugs so that they can have the courage to face some of the situations of life example socializing with the opposite sex. Once they get the courage from drugs, they don't stop there since drugs become their "courage masterpiece". They go on and on until they are addicted.

3. Idleness: They say an idle mind is the devil's workshop, well this is true because when young people are idle they tend to take drugs in order to feel high and get rid of boredom or to pass time. This is one of the biggest way to faster addiction since a lot of time is spent on taking these drugs. The government has been on the front line to ensure youth don't idle as this could lead to other social immoralities apart from drug abuse.

4. Eagerness to taste drugs: This is the least cause of drug abuse. People get involved in drug abuse simply because they want to taste and feel the

reaction of a certain drug or substance. In the long run the victim will be attracted to these feelings and he or she gets addicted.

The government of Kenya, through the relevant agencies e.g. NACADA should work tirelessly in curbing the drug menace among the youth.

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