Knowledge on Health Effects of Drug Abuse : How youth sustain the practice in Nyalenda, Kisumu, Kenya

This work was developed in response to the increase in number of youth abusing drugs. Prevention of drug abuse is important to the health and socioeconomic stability of a country because the cost of substance abuse affects the well being of the population in all these aspects. In Kenya drug abuse contributes to rising health care costs especially in the management of drug abuse complications like alcoholism, drug addiction, diabetes, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and neo - natal disorders. This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Nyalenda Estate, Kisumu East, Nyanza Province of Kenya on 383 youth drug users selected purposively. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. The findings revealed that age and sex of the respondents and knowledge of health effects of abused drugs had an influence in drug abuse among the youth. The commonly abused drugs were bhang, local alcoholic brew (chang'aa), and tobacco. Although the youth knew the health effects of drug abuse many of the youth did not associate the habit with common medical conditions like heart problems among others.