Assessment of Drug Abuse Prevalence among Rural Youths in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

The study empirically assessed the prevalence of drug abuse among rural youth in South East Nigeria. Specifically, it identified the types of drugs abused, determined the prevalence, examined perceived factors influencing drug use, The study was guided by the hypotheses which stated that there was no significant difference in the; prevalence of drug abuse among respondents across the States. Data were obtained from 360 rural youths randomly selected across Abia, Enugu, and Imo States (120 per State) using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean scores, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Results showed that the ranking for substances being abused was highest for synthetic marijuana (Colorado) (94.20%), followed by tramadol (87.80%), over-the-counter drugs (86.90%), methamphetamine (mkpurummiri) (85.80%), cannabis (85.60%), and alcohol (85.80%). The prevalence of drug abuse was moderately high to high (mean = 3.20–3.45), with widespread use among rural youth (mean = 3.45) and rising cases (mean = 3.51). Major contributing factors included peer pressure (