ALARM OVER DRUGS: NACADA STUDY CITES RAMPANT DRUG ABUSE IN SCHOOLS AND
UNIVERSITIES

Nairobi

Over One-Fifth Of Pupils Have Drunk Alcohol, It Says

More than a fifth (22.7 per cent) of primary school children in Kenya have
taken alcohol, a figure that rises to more than three-fourths (68 per cent)
for university students.

A large number of students across all age groups have been exposed to
alcohol, tobacco, miraa (khat), glue sniffing, bhang (marijuana) and even
hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

The rampant drug abuse in learning institutions is confirmed by an
unpublished study commissioned by the National Agency for the Campaign
against Drug Abuse (Nacada).

The study is yet to be released, but the Nation obtained a draft dated
October last year.

Contacted, Nacada national coordinator Joseph Kaguthi pleaded against the
publication of the results, arguing that the draft was not final. He said
his agency was still "panel-beating" the report "to make it user-friendly
and readable."

The National Baseline Survey on Drug and Substance Abuse Among the Youth in
Kenya shows that up to 30 per cent of university students chew miraa.

The pattern of use of drugs was found to vary with females more likely to
have been exposed to alcohol, tobacco and bhang than males. Males had a
higher exposure in miraa and inhalants.

National polytechnics recorded the highest rate of alcohol abuse - 60.7 per
cent - followed by secondary schools with 22 per cent. The study found out
that the prevalence of drug use increased from primary to tertiary
institutions. Alcohol was the most frequently abused drug followed by
miraa, tobacco and bhang.

"The tertiary institutions form an excellent experimenting ground for drugs
and other substances that even leads to dependency," says the study.

The research was conducted by a team of professionals from Nacada, the
Central Bureau of Statistics, ministries of Health, Education and Finance,
the University of Nairobi and the United States International University.

According to the draft report, Muslim youths had the least use proportion
of alcohol use among the religious groups. The worst groups were those who
had no religion.

Youths staying with parents were at the lowest risk of abusing drugs
followed by those who stayed with relatives. Those who stayed with friends
were most at risk followed by those staying with either a sister or a brother.

Those staying in towns had a twofold risk of having tasted alcohol,
tobacco, miraa, bhang and inhalants (glue) compared to those in rural areas.

"This is an indication that exposure of the youth in the urban areas in
terms of their lifestyles predisposes them to drugs as compared to those in
rural areas," says the report dated last October.

Children of more learned parents are at a greater risk of abusing drugs.
The report attributes this to modernism where the affluent parents expose
their children to alcohol and drugs.

A breakdown of the family values and structure because parents have lost
control of their children who have the freedom to experiment on alcohol and
drugs was blamed for the rampant drug abuse.

Some youths engage in drugs because of they imitate adults and because of
peer pressure.

"The youth take drugs to be like adults, are influenced by their peers and
other personal reasons. They use bhang, miraa and inhalants to get high,"
says the report.

It says that drug use is a big problem in Kenya.

Bhang is used widely and abused by the youth because it is obtained
cheaply. In some regions, miraa is taken by everybody as a norm, including
women.

However, the youth at the learning institutions are the worst hit, with a
greater influence coming from teachers.

It is observed that the children - both boys and girls - aged 10 years "can
smoke a whole roll of bhang".

Some pretend they are smoking cigarettes while they are actually smoking
cannabis (bhang), says the report.

Increased cases of unrest in schools - including the 2001 fire tragedy in
Kyanguli - were attributed to drug abuse in schools.

The report blames failure by authorities to take action for increased abuse.

Some of the law enforcers are collaborating with bhang peddlers, says the
survey.

"This is the very authority the society depends on for security and law
enforcement. The police collaborate with drug peddlers and sometimes they
are even the peddlers themselves," it says.

It established that youths from rich families abuse drugs more than those
from poor ones.

Those from poor families cannot continue with education for lack of school
fees, and are more likely to consume local brews, adds the draft.

Unemployment among the youth is cited as the reason why many youths are
indulging in drug abuse as they are often idle.

Because of lack of jobs, the adults have resorted to selling drugs to
school children in to earn a living.

"They do not care to whom they sell alcohol and other drugs or whether it
is wrong or not to do so provided that they earn an income," says the report.

"Joblessness after school has meant that the youth turn to bhang for solace."

Some drugs have become acceptable to societies so much that even young
people will take them without provoking much resentment.

In some cases, the youth venture into drug abuse only for experiment before
getting addicted. Most of them start from tobacco before they graduate to
bhang. Some have graduated into criminals.

The report says that drug abuse is rampant among some youths because they
copy role models such as musicians from the West who are successful,
although they are known drug users.