Reasons for drug/substance abuse
The question of the reason for drug/substance abuse among youths in Ilorin metropolis and its neighbourhood has posed a question that seems hard. If not impossible to offer an acceptable answers because the reasons vary from drug/substance to drug/substance and person to person. Some reasons are poor environmental conditions, fear from minorities and attempt to escape the power of “corporate state†peer pressure and pure pleasure (Gilbbins 1976).
However, the major reasons for abuse of drug/substances by our youths may include the following amongst others:
(i) Peer Group Influence: The peer group is second only to parents in socializing the child. Parents and peer group seem to almost equal importance by the time children are well grown up into adolescence. Thus, the peer group provides the developing child with a broad range of behaviours and cultural and sub-cultural values meanwhile a peer group is a group compose of individual who are equals (Morrish 1972). Accounts for why youths take and abuse drug/substances, some may reason thus “if grown up take pills, use tobacco and get drunk, why should I not ‘enjoy’ myself smoking marijuana or take drug/substances? They imagine that drug/substances are keys to enjoying life more fully. An individual in group which favours preponderance of definitions that favour the illegal or deviant behavior. Since such groups also are likely to have access to supplies, there is a high probability that individual will experiment with drug/substances and ultimately become a drug/substance abuser. Their being integrated into a group in which drug/substance use is approved is one of the strongest factors leading youths into illegal drug/substances.
(Ii) The need to feel high: According to Ekpo (2007), youths in Nigeria especially in Ilorin abuse drug/substances to change or alter the way they feel “to feel happier or better, to avoid pains stress or frustrationâ€. They want to forget or to remember, to be accepted or be sociable sometimes to escape from burden or just to satisfy curiosity. However, in the long run, people who abuse drug/substances in the hope of solving one problem or the other run the risk of getting trapped in a spiral of increasing drug/substance use that created new problems and finally leads to drug/substances dependence which worsens already worse situation.
(Iii) Social structural influence: The particular factor is associated with relentless harshness of life. In this case, life itself is one big hell of hand ball to kick. Academic frustration, rivalry, poverty, family problem, inherent physical deformities, widening gap between the rich and the poor make life one long stretch of mental future.
In order to summon up courage to face such situations and the task ahead, “Youths find solutions in smoking, drinking, drug/substance taking of all sorts on the firm conviction that these drug/substances provide euphoria release, great spur and a monetary escape from reality because of this, taking drug/substances becomes a habit to face life.
(iv) The craze for easy wealth: Another reason often cored for youths indulgence in drug/substance abuse is that drug/substance abuse/trafficking is a quick and easy way to make money. Trafficking of drug/substances has become a multi millionaire business.
(v) The mass media: Evidence abounds that children and youths who watch a lot of television programmes learn to rely on stereotypes of the various groups presented by the media. These children then transfer what they have learned from television to real life situations. This, if the stereotype was presented and always watched by a child favours drug/substances taking the child will imbibe the culture of drug/substance taking.
(vi) PERSONALITY FACTORS: finally, it appears that Personality factor is another main factor responsible for the canker worm on Nigeria society. In this aspect, it is connected with distinctive personality traits associated with drug/substance abuse. The “independent personality†is a major elements in profiles of drug/substance addicts. In general, a drug/substance abuser, that is a drug/substance dependent person, has difficulty handling frustration, anxiety and depression. Implications of drug/substance abuse:- Drug/substance abuse seems to have become a prominent social problem in Nigeria especially among our youths. According to (Nwaiwu 2002), drug/substance abuse leads to serious health hazards for drug/substance addicts. Drug/substance abuse has adverse effects on the brain, kidney, liver, pancrease, heart and lung, thereby making them vulnerable to disease (Nwaiwu 2002). It also leads to other physical complications such as hepatitis, hepatic failure, tuberculosis in relation to alcohol abuse, infection and emaciation (Adedeji, 2003). Again, drug/substance abuse may result to serious psychiatric implications, these include confusion, restlessness and sometimes serious abnormal behavior or outright madness. At least one out of the psychiatric cases is due to delirious effects of marijuana. Besides, statistics have shown that 70% of patients undergoing treatment for drug/substance abuse in national’s psychiatric hospitals are youths between the ages of 16 and 25 years. It may also lead to poor performance in school work and may ultimately result in school dropout. Apart from that, it leads to the development of aggressive behaviour and depression mood that may esteem. Adedeji (2003) observed that drug/substance abuse gives rise to sudden mood swings, with unusual aggression and depression for no apparent reasons or warning interest in school, hobbies or friends.
