DRUG ABUSE AMONG YOUTHS IN RIVERS STATE, 2015-2020

This study examines the effects of drug abuse in Rivers State 2015-2020, with a focus on the link between drugs and youths. The study reveals that drug abuse is a significant problem in Rivers State, which causes a major risk behaviour with physical and mental health complications, with various factors contributing to its prevalence. The journal discusses the framework for controlling drug abuse, institutional frameworks, types of drugs abused, factors responsible for drug abuse and drug trafficking, the impact of drug abuse on individuals, families, and society, the responses to drug abuse in Rivers State by government, NGOs, Community organizations and educational programs and prevention strategies. The study also highlights challenges in controlling drug abuse. This study discovered that the problem is as a result of a lot of factors which has roots in the family, society and the institutions of learning. The study utilized historical research methodology in obtaining data from oral and written sources, especially from medical practitioners and social workers responsible for patients with psychiatric challenges, this also required the application of a multidisciplinary approach to arriving at the expected conclusion. The utilization of the agency of social theories in providing insight into this endemic social problem which transcends national and regional borders became necessary. The study concludes that the failure of the social and political structures of the state have created a lacuna that is consuming the vital energy of our youthful population into this cesspit of drug use and abuse.