CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Survey by World Health Organization reveals that young people are exposed to alcohol at many levels in society, particularly through advertising and peer pressure. As a result, harmful drinking habits are on the rise among adolescents and other youth. The 73 countries that responded to a World Health Organization (WHO) survey on alcohol and health, 71 percent reported that underage drinking had increased in the previous five years. And vulnerable young people, such as street youth and sex hawkers, are at far greater risk of early initiation of alcohol use and frequent consumption of drugs than the general young population. Many of the negative consequences that can result from alcohol use have been well documented, including drugs-related accidents and injuries, alcohol fueled homicide and suicide, drugs dependence, and alcohol poisoning. This brief describes the consequences of drugs use on young people’s sexual and reproductive health. It also addresses policies and programs aimed at reducing alcohol use and its negative consequences among young people as well as programmatic responses to drugs use and abuse.
Drug abuse being, an extreme desire to obtain and use increasing amount of one or more substance, this include alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, cigarettes, codeine and other substances which are harmful to the health of the individual. When considering drug abuse one should be able to differentiate it from drugs dependence or drugs addiction, which is the physical dependence on drugs to function.Despite the unrelenting effort of individuals, agencies, mass media and the government at different levels against drug abuse, the prevalent practice among secondary school students, and even adults in the community has not reduced but on the increase geometrically.The World Health Organization (WHO), defines drug as any substance other than those required for maintenance of normal health, which when taken into the living organism, may modify one or more of its functions (Ghodse, 2003).
According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Report (2005), about 200 million people, or 5 percent of the world’s population age between 15 and 65 have used drugs at least once in the last 12 months. Likewise, according to the World Drug (2005) reported that, the use of illicit drugs in all Nations has increased in recent years. The report goes on to note that the increasing availability of a variety of drugs to an ever widening socio-economic spectrum of consumers is disconcerting, although the main problem at the global level continues to be opiates (notably heroine) followed by cocaine.Drug abuse and other associated problems are inimical to the survival and effective functioning of human societies. A significant number of health hazards, untimely deaths, and accidents have been linked with the activities of persons under the influence of one drug or the other.Over the past two decades, the abuse of drugs in Kenya has rapidly increased and risen to unprecedented level and no part of the country is safe from the scourge (Ngesu et al, 2008).