Drug Abuse - Paper 2

Drug abuse is the excessive, maladaptive, or addictive use of drugs for non-medicinal purposes. It also defines a state, emotional and sometimes physical, characterized by a compulsion to take drugs on a constant basis in order to experience its mental effects. Drug abuse gives rise to dependence both physical and psychological. Dependence gives rise to mental, emotional, biological or physical, social and economic instability. The effects of drug abuse on an individual therefore form the basis for its cumulative effects on the society. This is the major danger of drug abuse.

Youth in any society occupy a delicate and sensitive position within the population structure for several reasons. The Nigerian law for example recognizes that an individual below the age of seven is incapable of committing a crime and an individual between seven and twelve years should be able to know what he ought not to do that is if it can be proved he doesn't know and he also isn't criminally responsible for his acts. Between the ages of twelve and seventeen, a person is regarded as a juvenile, and while he may be held responsible for his acts or omissions, he is treated specially under the law by the Children and Young Persons Act instead of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Statistics have shown that drug barons prefer recruiting their traffickers from the ages of 15 to 35 years, most of whom are either unskilled, unschooled or students or the unemployed. There are several factors, which can influence the abuse of drugs among youths. The major ones are: peer pressure, weak parental control, child abuse, imitation, emotional stress, truancy among students, the availability of the drugs and the ineffectiveness of the laws on drug trafficking
ypes of Drugs Abused by Youth:

Several types of drugs are susceptible to abuse by youth. These drugs range from most common and less expensive such as cigarettes and alcohol to expensive and more deadly such as cocaine and heroin.

Cigarettes -...