SUBSTANCE ABUSE:  ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE IN KENYA

Author

David J Ndegwah

Publication date: 2014/12/1

Book: African Youth Today: Challenges and Prospects (editors: S. Sahaya and D. Watt)

Pages: 28-42.

Publisher: Acton Publishers

Introduction

The phenomenon of addiction is as old as the human race, but in recent times, it has acquired epidemic proportions, especially among the youth in Kenya and the world at large. It has, however, been ex- acerbated by the abuse of drugs and growth of the narcotics trade that has slowly but surely become a global menace. This paper is a review of the understanding emerging from available literature on substance abuse, focusing on the African, and particularly Kenyan, situation. It looks at the meaning of the term addiction, types of addiction, causes of addiction, effects of addiction and how to effectively deal with the problem in the African context; borrowing from the traditional African social control mechanisms. In this regard, it is a reflection on the causes and effects of addiction in Kenya which traces on peer influence, socialisation and the way many parents raise their children. It, therefore, recommends that parents keep an eye on everything their children are doing and also, where possible, go back to the traditional way of raising children. This is, however, not a nostalgic blanket return to the past, but a well thought out mix of the traditional and modern ways of bringing up Kenyan children, in order to mitigate the effects of the West.