| dc.description.abstract | Drug abuse amongst the youth in Kenya has become a serious problem affecting all the people of
the country. Drug abuse is responsible for lost wages, destruction of property in schools, soaring
health care costs and broken families. The purpose of this study was to establish the factors
influencing youth to drug abuse in Kenya focusing on Vihiga Sub County. Specifically the study
sought to; investigate the demographic factors that influence youths to abuse drugs in Vihiga Sub
County; ascertain the socio-cultural factors influencing youth abuse drugs in Vihiga Sub County;
determine the economic factors influencing youth to abuse drugs in Vihiga Sub County; and
establish the nature and extent of drug abuse and sources of knowledge and awareness on drug
abuse and related issues among the youth in Vihiga Sub County. The study adopted a descriptive
research design. The population for the purpose of this study was youth from Vihiga Sub
County, Kenya. Purposive sampling will be used to select 365 respondents from shopping
centres, rehabilitation centres and institutions such as schools and colleges due to proximity to
the researcher, time available for research and budgetary constraints. The study relied on data
collected through a questionnaire structured to meet the objectives of the study. Responses were
tabulated, coded and processed by use of a computer Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) version 20.0 programme to analyze the data. Quantitative information was summarized
into frequencies, percentages and graphs using tables. Qualitative information in the interview
guide was transcribed and reported in narrative reports. Samples t test and one-way ANOVA
were also used. The study found that there exists a positive association between; Demographic
Factors and drug abuse in vihiga sub county, Socio - Cultural Factors and drug abuse in vihiga
subcounty, Economic Factors and drug abuse in vihiga sub-county, and sources of knowledge
and awareness on drug abuse among youth in Vihiga Sub County. This positive association
suggests that when one factor increases, it courses acoresponding increase in another factor. The
study therefore concludes that Demographic Factors, Socio - Cultural Factors, Economic Factors
and sources of knowledge and awareness on drug abuse among youths in Vihiga Sub County are
factors influencing youths to abuse drugs in the sub-county. The study recommends that
educators and other professionals need to act on drug abuse in Kenyan institutions; programs are
now more than ever needed to educate people on drug problem in Kenya; there is need for the
government to; take action should come in to play to end issues of corruption which has been
indicated as the main challenge facing the fight against drug abuse in the study area; and the
police should be empowered to handle even the so called influential drug dealers and
distributors. The study further recommends that there is need to conduct a similar study which
will attempt to find out the effects of drug abuse in Kenya; and to investigate the role of the
government in the fight against drug abuse in the area | en_US |
