Khat Use and Its Impacts on Students’ Various Aspect in Higher Educational Institutions:The Case of Mizan -Tepi University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Khat chewing is one of the many maniples of drop-adjure or drug addiction. It becomes one experiential aspect of some section of society especially, the youth. Khat chewing is not uncommon among students in higher educational institutions particularly among university students. Now days, it has become a habit of significant number of students in higher educational institutions. This research is aimed at assessing impacts of Khat use among students of higher educational institutions the case of Mizan- Tepi University, Ethiopia. The research is a cross-sectional study; aimed at collecting data at one point in time and describing the study population rather than showing the patterns of change which might be witnessed over time. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and observation used as data collection techniques. The study subjects were selected purposively/ judgmental under non-probability sampling procedure. Qualitative information recorded on notebook from FGDs, conversations with key informants, and in-depth interviews were organized and constructed coherently, analyzed descriptively- word description / sentence form. Findings of this research show that Khat use has enormous impact on student’s various aspects. Although it is believed that Khat use plays a role in making students alerted and focused during long study hours, the overall result of this study shows Kaht use has negative impact on various aspects of students. The impacts can be categorized as Economic, Social, and health related, psychological impacts and impact on students’ educational performance.

Khat, Khat use, impacts, educational performance

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-15-02

Publication date: August 31^st 2019