CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The use of drugs is a common practice among young and old. Drugs are not only useful for human beings; they are also useful for animals for good health. Human beings give drugs to their animals when they discovered that they are not healthy. Drug is an effective substance in the life of any living thing to cure sickness and to make life healthy. It is true that drugs are used for beneficent therapeutic purposes, effective substance for good health, but they

are being abused by people especially youths. They use it illegally and unlawfully, thus it becomes harmful to the body.

The impact of drug abuse among Nigerian youths has been considered a moral decadent. Drug abuse has made the face of the Nigerian youths rough and brought shame to our society. The Nigerian youths are deliberately using drugs illegally, unlawfully and intentionally.

Many of our youths ignorantly or knowingly depend on one drug or the other for their daily activities. According to the statistics provided by World Health Organization (WHO), drug including alcohol and tobacco, have caused a lot of road accidents and have claimed more lives than other sicknesses suffered by mankind. As International Drug Trafficking is gaining strength, the international cooperation against drug trafficking is steadily loosing strength and lacking organization.

The report from world narcotics has shown that confiscation level has fallen below 10 percent of the global circulation level of drug international mortality figures for drug abuse have tripled since 1988. In the United States, medical emergencies coming from cocaine taken rose by 1000 percent between 1976-1993, in the case of the heroine by 6 percent from 1988-1993 and by 155 percent in the case of cannabis. Cocaine addicts between the age of 12 and 17 increased by 166 percent from 1994-1995 in various countries. Drugs are being abused everyday.

In Nigeria, this issue of drug abuse has been a serious concern for the society. Youths have taken to drug abuse. In recent times, the rate at which youths abuse drugs have been so alarming and worrisome that much effort have been made to eradicate it. As the youths are abusing drugs, the effort being made to eradicate it is losing strength. Drug abuse and addiction have a destructive or devastating consequences but our youths are still into drugs. “Not only that it destroys the affected individual but it has a pervasive effect on all those who know or work with the individual (Barber, 1967:85). Drug addiction is a tragedy in our Nigerian society.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The abuse of drug among youths in Nigeria is gradually becoming a norm. Drug abusers are gender specific, Females are not exempt in this evil act. A recent research shows that 15-20 percent of drug addicts are females while males constitute about 50-55 percent, all comprising of traders, students, unskilled workers and the unemployed as shown by a retrospective study carried out by NDLEA (Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency).

Drug abuse has contributed in the set back of the society. Regardless of this, many youths do still indulge in it. In many psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria, many of our youths are there undergoing drug treatment. The number of the youths that are insane are more than old people that are insane and youths insanity is mostly caused by drug abuse. Some youths are school drop-outs because they could not continue due to the rate of drug they have taken that resulted to their insanity.. Many youths are homeless, wanderers, derelicts, unemployed, rapist, thugs, armed robbers and so on because they are drug addicts. A lot of lives and property have been wasted in accident and violence because of drug. Youths that are supposed to be the hope of their families and the society at large and useful to themselves have wasted their lives, all because of drugs and it has been a serious problem in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of this study is to examine the impact  of drug abuse among youth in Nigeria. The specific objectives are:

1.     To find out the impact of drug abuse on the education of youths in Nigeria

2.     To ascertain the effect of drug abuse on family and community

3.     To find if drug abuse contributes to the rate of crime among youths in Nigeria.

4.     To know the effect of drug abuse on the employability of youths in Nigeria.

5.     To ascertain if drug abuse poses a threat to the health of youths in Nigeria.

RESEARCH QUESTION

The relevant research questions related to this study are:

1.     What is the impact of drug abuse on the education of youths in Nigeria?

2.     What is the effect of drug abuse on family and community?

3.     Does drug abuse contribute to the rate of crime among youths in Nigeria?

4.     What is the effect of drug abuse on the employability of youths in Nigeria?

5.     Does drug abuse pose a threat to the health of youths in Nigeria?

 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study is significant because the abuse of drugs among youths in Nigeria is exposed. The findings of this research the abuse of drugs affects so many areas of the lives of drug abusers. This study helps to alert the government on how the rate of drug abuse among youths is gradually increasing to the apex. There is need for the government to prevent the importation of counterfeit drugs into the country.

Also people should the educated on the various ways of abusing drug and how to avoid its practice. This study also clamors the need to organize a therapy section for drug abusers and drug addicts on how to overcome the practices. For these reasons there is a need to carry out this study on the impact of drug abuse among youths in Nigeria.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is restricted to the effects of drug abuse among youths in Nigeria. How the abuse of drugs affect their family, health, community, education, etc.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

The limitations encountered during this study are lack of adequate resources on the subject of study; most of the respondents are not ready to be interviewed and also inadequate time

1.8     DEFINITION OF TERMS

Youth: Summer (2003:1920), defines youth as “the period of time when someone is young especially the period when someone is a teenager”. From Hornby (2000:1389), “youth is the time of life when a person is young, especially the time before a child becomes an adult”.

Drug: Hornby (2000:359), (1) “an illegal substance that some people smoke, inject, etc. to give them pleasant or exciting feelings”. (2) “a substance used as a medicine or used in a medicine”. Onah (1982:2) defines drug as “any chemical substance that has an effect upon the body or mind, by modifying one or more of the terms”.

Abuse: “It is the use of something in a way that is wrong or harmful” (Hornby, 2000:5)

Drug Abuse: Onah (1982:2), Sees it as “It is an excessive or inappropriate use of a drug by a person; such use being considered or judged to be illegal (immoral) by the culture and also resulting in harm to the person or society”. From Aka and Akunyili (2003:60), drug abuse refers to drug use mainly by self-medication in a manner that deviates from approved medical or social patterns”.

Therapy: For Summer (2003:483), “therapy is the treatment of an illness or injury”. Hornby (2000:1241), defined therapy as “the treatment of a physical problem or an illness”