There are several factors that contribute to the influence of drug abuse or drug addiction amongstgst tt thion among the Nigerian youths, specifically peer groups, parental background or those people with broken home, emotional stress among others.

To begin with, peer groups are a form of societal influence on the affected youths. For instance, a friend can be very much influenced to be a drug addict if permitted to interact with drug addicts – young and old. He can be tempted on one significant day to join the bad wagon of drug addicts, thus slowly ruining his career in life. Getting enthusiastic to a particular drug is like a slow process that will reach a climax. Dangerous drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, morphine, heroine, tobacco, and ephedrine are some of the various drugs that can ruin ones life. Several of these hazardous drugs are both depressant and stimulants, making the users either to experience high (on top of the world!) or low (below the sea level!) given that there is a common saying which says “Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are.” Our youth need to be fully re-oriented with respect to this social evil. For example, in our modern society, several groups of boys may be shy and frightened to “approach” or persuade beautiful female damsels to their side, they might result to taking hard drugs that can “pull them” up and beckon courage and talk to such girls. But why this barbaric method of toasting? In truth, a number of boys even believe strongly in drinking alcoholic drinks as their own crude technique.

Furthermore, the parental background of a child could as well have an effect on the over-dependence rate on drugs among the affected youths. Due to a variety of family problems like broken homes (divorces), polygamous family, miserable poverty, cultural influence, parental abandon, lack of parental affection and responsibility. A father that is a drug addict could be deeply influenced and “carried away” by any of his children. Like father, like son. In addition, various groups of teenagers are psychologically stressed, however instead for them to search for for an appropriate medical attention since a stitch in time saves many, they will result to SELF MEDICATION which is a conceptual relic of drug abuse, thereby using hard drugs for such corrections.

Recent scientific research shows that characteristics of the individual, rather than of the drug, play a leading role in vulnerability to drug abuse. The social and psychological maladjustment that characterizes most recurrent drug abusers precedes the first drug use. One study that tracked children from an early age to adulthood recognized predictors of future serious drug use that might be identified in children’s behavior as early as age seven. (J. Shedler ; J. Block, 1990)

Furthermore, the latest analysis discovered four family characteristics that influence teen drug use — parental attitudes about drugs, parental monitoring, parent-child bonding and sibling behavior. For instance, when parents show an acceptance toward marijuana, teens are far more likely to use that drug. The more teens think their parents are monitoring their activities, the less likely they are to use marijuana. Those findings held up across each drug type, from alcohol to hard drugs like heroin. Lastly, when older brothers or sisters use drugs, younger siblings frequently follow suit. An older child using marijuana increases the younger child’s likelihood of doing the same by 58 percent.  It’s essential for children to know their parents’ standards and that a clear standard is communicated.

Moreover, for the non-socialized person, peers play a major role in our modern-day culture. The role they play is twofold. First, it is most frequently through peers that illicit drugs are made obtainable, given that these drugs can not often be purchased through ordinary means. The peer group might either supply the drug straight or provide information on obtaining it. Having a huge number of drug-using friends means that the non-socialized individual has complete access to drugs. Because there is no internal mechanism to avoid drug usage for this person, such complete access leads to the high rate of initial use. This is what gives the peer group the predictive power frequently found in research studies. Second, the peer group might give models for drug usage, teaching its members when, where, and how to use the drugs. This theory does not, though, require socialization by the peer group into a drug culture for the non-socialized individual to have the initial drug experience. The effect is more casual than that–the peer group needs simply to give models for attainment and use of the illegal drugs. The impact of the peer group will differ for different age groups as a function of the amount of time spent within that group and the degree to which it is free of external controls. With children, peer-group activity is roughly never free of adult supervision, so there is modest accessibility of drugs for a non-socialized child. But adolescents frequently function without supervision, and therefore the channels are more open for illegal drug passage. Parents influence their children, when not in fact supervising them, only during the internal standards which they have imparted to them, and with the non-socialized youth such internal standards are absent. Parents who have not socialized their children regarding drugs have little or no impact on whether the children will have an initial drug experience.

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