To investigate on the causes of drug abuse among the youths in the community case study; Kanyada village Homabay district in Kenya

Abstract

Drug abuse among the youths has become a major menace in Africa precisely the case study of Kanyada village in Homabay District- Kenya which has resulted into social, economic, physical and emotional problems within the society. The purpose of this study was to investigate on the causes of drug abuse among the youths basically from ages (10-25 years) which in the long run has affected various dimensions of life like individual, the family, the community and the government. A descriptive research design was adopted where the target population consisted of youths, parents and teachers. A total of 70 respondents were involved in the study that included 40 youths, 20 parents and 10 teachers. Questionnaires and interviews were the main tools of data collection. A pretest was done to ascertain the reliability of questionnaires, data was analyzed using frequencies and graphs and the result showed that the major cause of drug abuse among the youths is peer pressure especially from ages (15-22 years). It is recommended that both parents and teachers should play a vital role of offering counseling and having free talks with their children/ students at this stage (15-22 years) since it is at this stage when they are at the peak of adolescence and are in need of much attention so as to help reduce or curb the causes of drug abuse among the youths in order to help the youths grow into responsible citizens.