CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
     This research work investigated the effects of drug/substance/substance Abuse among youths in Ilorin metropolis of Kwara state. It is a case study of Sango area in the state capital.
According to Laver (1978) drug/substance abuse simply means the improper use of drug/substances to the degree that the consequences are defined as detrimental to the user and or the society. The World Health Organization (WHO (2006) also defined drug/substance abuse as a “state” of periodic or chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and to the society, produced by the repeated consumption of a drug/substance (natural or synthetic).
Drug/substance abuse patterns include all aspects of drug/substance usage by the youths ranging from how much, how often and what sort of drug/substances, where who, with, what circumstances and so on. The analysis of contemporary social problems has consistently proved more and more controversial because of the variables involved in their analysis, with the incidence of drug/substance abuse, being of utmost concern to the user himself, his family, the government and the entire society in which he lives. This situation seems to have caused a lot of embarrassment to the government including most especially the damage done to the image of Nigerian abroad. It is obvious that custom officials in the United States of America and indeed the entire nations of Europe subject the people of Nigeria traveling to their countries to a more thorough and embarrassing checks. This type of degrading and humiliating checking of Nigerians according to them is because they want to crack down on drug smugglers of which Nigerians are the chief suspects due to the hard drug/substance trafficking posture exhibited by many greedy Nigerians.
The Nigerian society has defined some drug/substances as acceptable while others as not acceptable without reference to their effects on mental and physical wellbeing of the users. For instance, our society considers the use of alcohol and nicotine as acceptable; hence those who take these drug/substances do so freely in public without fear of arrest or societal stigma. In the society as a whole, crime, promiscuity, armed robbery and other vices are all linked to drug/substance abuse. Therefore this study is motivated by the controversy that surrounds the effect of drug/substance abuse among youth in Ilorin metropolis of Kwara state.
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a dependence on a legal or illegal drug or medication. Keep in mind that alcohol and nicotine are legal substances, but are also considered drugs. When an individual is addicted, he is not able to control his drug use and he may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. Drug addiction can cause an intense craving for the drug. The individual may want to quit, but most people find they can’t do it on their own. It can also lead to serious, long-term consequences, including problems with physical and mental health, relationships, employment, and the law.
Many things influence the development of an addiction. While we do not yet know how these various influences combine to form an addiction, we do know there are two basic types. One type of influence is biological forces, such a person’s genetics. The second type is environmental influences. This includes people’s life experiences. Early life experiences, interpersonal relationships, and culture can heavily influence us.