Adolescent’s and Drugs Abuse in Nigeria

Abstract

Drug abuse continues to be the major risk behaviour among youth and adolescents, with physical and mental health complications. Despite the known risks associated with the drugs, adolescents continue using these drugs. This paper reveals the prevalence of drug abuse among adolescent’s in Nigeria, problems associated with drugs abuse and reasons why adolescents are vulnerable to drugs abuse. Drug abuse causes a lot of risk among the adolescents; it results to gang formation, armed robbery, mental illness and cultism. Studies revealed that most of the drug addicts started smoking from their young age. As they grow older they seek new thrills and gradually go into hard drugs. There was an indication that 65 percent of high school students used drugs to have good time, 54 percent wanted to experiment to see what it is like, 20–40 percent used it to alter their moods. It concludes by prescribing some ways of curbing the menace arising from drug abuse.

Keywords: Adolescents, drug abuse, problem, prevention