Browsing by Author "Mulenga, Clement"

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    Drug Abuse among the Youth
    (Tangaza University College, 1998-02) Mulenga, Clement
    This Long Essay was prompted by one main consideration; namely, that the non-medical use of drugs is rampant among the Kenyan youth. This has affected not only the youth themselves, but also their families and society at large. In other words, what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been saying for over three decades about trends in the world as a whole is seen to be increasing in the specific case of Kenya. This problem has also been re-echoed persistently by the Kenyan mass media. Our concern was that the precise character and magnitude of the drug problem among Kenyan youth has yet to be adequately documented and addressed. We directed our research study precisely to our youth in some Don Bosco schools and youth centres. This research study, whose results are recorded here, will render a great help to us in order to evaluate the prevalence of drug abuse among our Don Bosco youth. The findings reported here are based on the responses obtained from a randomly selected sample of Nairobi City and Embu town One of our most significant findings is that according to their frequencies, the four most abused drugs are alcohol (57), khat (30), cannabis (12) and opium/heroin (10). Another outstanding element is that out of the total percentage of respondents (100%), 43.8% were drug abusers. On the basis of these and other findings, we conclude that any campaign against drug abuse in Nairobi City and Embu town must focus primarily on alcohol, khat, cannabis and opium/heroin. Based on the foregoing and other inferences, we conclude that any campaign launched in Nairobi and Embu against the drug menace should address their availability and accessibility. The youth, who are the most vulnerable sector of the Kenyan population, must be seriously sensitised. This should be done through the mass media, seminars, workshops, counselling and by creating youth activities. Let us take note that one must be extremely careful about how one handles a media campaign against drugs to avoid arousing curiosity among the youth. However, this risk is surpassed by the likely benefits of such a campaign. A focus on availability of the drugs of abuse would appear more promising.