Causes, Effects and Control of Drug Abuse in Society

Drug abuse is an issue that is attracting much attention and condemnation in the society. Drugs by simple definition include those in raw or unprocessed and those in finished or processed forms. Among these are cocaine, Indian hemps, heroine. However, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of English defines 'abuse' as the act of making bad or wrong use of something. When drugs are therefore taken in an unlawful manner, such act is termed 'drug abuse'. It is however pertinent to examine the causes and consequences of the act in order to nip it in the bud. One of the factors that encourage it is lack of parental care. Parents / guardians have major roles to play in the moral upbringing of their children. When parents / guardians fail to give proper moral orientation to their children, this may result to negative behaviour in the future, one of these being 'drug abuse'.

Many of those that are involved in drug abuse were influenced by their friends either in school or outside the school. This therefore connotes that parents / guardians need to watch out for the kind of friends their children are moving with both in the school and outside it.

Frustration in life due to factors like unemployment, disease, marital conflicts, broken home, dropping out from school among others could lead youths to drug taking while lack of stiff penalty for the culprits further goes a long way in encouraging it in the society. When those involved are not apprehended and punished, others would want to imitate them based on the believe that they too would enjoy the same freedom. Lack of proper education of youths on the dangers inherent in drug taking further encourages it. Government therefore needs to educate the masses in this regard.

The negative effects of drug taking in the society cannot be underestimated. Due to drug abuse, many youths are now into social vices like stealing, pilfering, assassinations, armed robbery and prostitution. It is believed that such drugs give them the boldness to involve in such acts.

The issue encourages high death rate in the society. Many of those youths involved die prematurely because of the inability of their body system to cope with such drugs. Many lunatics are in the major streets today because of their dealings in Indian hemp, cocaine, heroine and other dangerous narcotics.

Drug abuse undermines the image of a nation. Nations that are dealing in drugs are usually castigated among the comity of nations. Citizens and leaders of such nations are thus treated as 'pariah' among their colleagues. A lot of money is usually spent by government to curb the menace. Such money could have been spent on activities that could have benefited the masses. Those dealing in drugs have low personality. They cannot do anything except if they take drug first. Such drugs usually give them the boldness to carry out activities that are beyond their natural ability.

The issue goes a long way in encouraging cultism in the society. Many of those involved in cultism use drugs to stimulate them and thus give them the boldness to indulge in their criminal and nefarious activities.

Efforts to eradicate or control the issue of drug abuse in the society have over the years been universal. Presently, most nations in the world have anti-drug policies and laws to achieve this goal. This is therefore not surprising that many drug addicts are in prison in various countries today. Government of all the nations in the world should not relent in their efforts to reprimand those involved in the menace.

There is need for proper orientation of the youths in the society against the negative effects of using drugs indescriminately.Educational institutions administrators have to be alive to their responsibilities to maintain discipline in their domains.

Government should continue to promote those anti-drug activities in the society. Sponsoring of workshops, lectures, conferences and symposiums on the menace can help in achieving the goal. Parents should continue to give proper moral training to their children. An adage goes thus 'charity begins at home'. If the parents can succeed in giving good moral training to their children, little is left for government to do while the society would be spared the agony in the future.