TThere are a million reasons why students abuse drugs.
Drug abuse or substance abuse refers to the use of certain chemicals for the purpose of creating pleasurable effects on the brain.
It can also be described as the excessive, maladaptive, or addictive use of drugs for nonmedical purposes despite social, psychological, and physical problems that may arise from such use.
Here are seven (7) reasons...
- Lack of parental supervision: Most parents have no time to supervise their children. Some parents have little or no interaction with family members, while others put pressure on their children to pass exams or perform better in their studies. These phenomena initialize and increases drug abuse
- Experimental Curiosity: Curiosity to experiment the unknown facts about drugs thus motivates adolescents into drug use. The first experience in drug abuse produces a state of awakening such as happiness and pleasure which in turn motivate them to continue.
- Peer Group Influence: Peer pressure plays a major role in influencing many adolescents into drug abuse. This is because peer pressure is a fact of teenage and youth life. As they try to depend less on parents, they show more dependency on their friends.
- Personality Problems due to socio-Economic Conditions: Adolescents with personality problems arising from social conditions have been found to abuse drugs. The social and economic status of most Africans is below average. Other causes of students involvement in drug abuse is attributed to high rate of poverty in the country, broken homes and unemployment is on the increase, therefore students roam the streets looking for employment. Frustration arising from these problems lead to recourse in drug abuse for temporarily removing the tension and problems arising from it.
- The Need for Energy to Work for Long Hours: The increasing economic deterioration that leads to poverty and disempowerment of the people has driven many parents to send their children out in search of a means of earning something for contribution to family income. These children engage in bus conducting, hawking, head loading, scavenging, serving in food canteens etc and are prone to drug taking so as to gain more energy to work for long hours.
- Availability of the Drugs: In many countries, drugs have dropped in prices as supplies have increased.
- The Need to prevent the Occurrence of Withdrawal symptoms: If drug is stopped, the user experiences what is termed “withdrawal symptoms”. The inability of the drug user to tolerate the symptoms motivates him to continue.
A strong postive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug – PATRICIA NEAL
Reasons Why Students Abuse Drugs