CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This research work is on the effects of Drug Abuse among University

undergraduates in Nigeria. It appears that not only the use of drugs that

create problems but rather their misuse. In other words the widespread

use of drugs has not only turned our attention to the dynamics of drug

use and its determinants but also made it necessary to weigh the impact

of this process on social institutions and social charge in future

generations.

Drug abuse according to Laver (1978) simply means the improper use of

drugs 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 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 (natural or synthetic).

Drug abuse patterns include all aspect of drug usage by the youths

ranging from how much, how often and what sort of drugs, where who,

with, what circumstances and so on. The analysis of contemporary

social problem has consistently proved more and more controversial

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because of the variables involve in their analysis, with the incidence of

drug abuse, being of utmost concern to the abuser 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 examination of Nigerians

according to them is because they want to crack down on smugglers of

which Nigerians are the chief suspects due to the hard drug trafficking

posture exhibited by some greedy Nigerians.

Furthermore, Nigerian societies has defined some drugs as acceptable

while others as not acceptable without reference to their effects on

mental and physical wellbeing of t the of the users, for example, society

considers the use of alcohol and nicotine as acceptable, hence those of

them who take these drugs do so freely in public without fear of arrest or

society stigma.

To the society as a whole, crime, promiscuity, armed robbery and other

vices are all linked to drug abuse. Therefore this study is motivated by

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the controversy that surrounds the effect of drug abuse among

University undergraduates in Nigeria.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Drug abuse in Nigeria in the contemporary time has become one issue

that cast a gloomy shadow to the entire Nigerian society especially

among University undergraduates. The height of drug trafficking in

Nigeria was witnessed in 1985 under the military regime. During this

period, it was mostly the University undergraduates that were caught

and the first to be executed for drug offences under the “special tribunal

(Miscellaneous Offences) Degree No. 20 of 1984. However, the abuse of

drugs is not only limited to the University undergraduates as alien

phenomenon is to distort its significance.

Nevertheless, the usage of drug either by University undergraduates or

other members of the larger society in all its ramifications appears to be

a social problem. This problem is widely spread and it affect all and

sundry. In other words, this wide spread use and abuse entice people

from all walks of life and beyond the human destruction caused by drug

dependence is the damage to traditional values and lifestyles. Studies

have also shown that drug abuse wrecks individual, shatter families and

weakens entire society with its burden of economic looses, health cost

and increased lawlessness and crime.

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Also, drugs seem to undermine the ability of University undergraduates

to learn. Drug also appears to contradict our values of physical

wellbeing. People experiment with drugs because they seem to hold the

promise of fulfillment. But the fulfillment is generally elusive, greater and

greater quantities are consumed and ultimately the person suffers both

physical and psychological deterioration. The drug abuser also

experience problems of interaction and this interactional problem is

encountered both inside his immediate family and stress invariably is

created in the family situation of drug abuse (Hoffman, 1990).

To add to this, drug abuse may entail a lot of social problems ranging

from lateness to lectures, family neglect, deviance behaviours,

involvement in crime etc (Earl 2000). In terms of economic cost, it

includes the more money required to deal with the undesirable effects of

the drug abuse, the less money for services and programmes that

enhances the quality of life (Earl 2000).

One of the factors militating against the eradication of drug abuse among

our University undergraduates is that our security agencies, such as the

police force, National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies among others

have not done enough to check this scourge. Another factor militating

against the eradication of drug abuse among Nigerian University

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undergraduates is the problem of corruption among the men and officials

of these fore mentioned agencies.

To this end and judging from the problems outlined earlier, this research

aims at ascertaining the effect of drug abuse among University

undergraduates in Nigeria using the University of Calabar, Cross River

State as a study area.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will guide the study.

1. What are the common drugs likely to be abused by undergraduate

students in the contemporary Nigeria society?

2. What are the major reasons accountable for engagement of

undergraduate students in drug abuse in Nigeria?

3. What are the likely implications for undergraduate‟s involvement in

drug abuse?

4. What are the measures that can be used to eradicate drug abuse

among University undergraduates in Nigeria?

1.4 MAJOR OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of drugs abused by undergraduates in Nigeria

1. To find out the drugs that is commonly abused by undergraduate

students in Nigeria.