Risks of the Female Youth to Drugs and Substance Abuse in Makindu Town, Kenya

Abstract

This study paid particular attention to investigating the nature and magnitude of risks exposed to the female youth
abusing drugs in Makindu town Kenya. Consequently, this exploratory study had the following objectives: to identify and classify
the type of risks experienced by female youth exposed to drug and substance use. The research design used in the study was
case study design. Using snow ball sampling technique. 29 respondents were sampled for the study. The data was collected by
use of unstructured interviews designed for female youth abusing drug and substance, focus group discussion guides for female
youth whose partners abused drugs, key informant for key informants, participant observation and where possible an
observation checklist. According to the finding of the study, it was evident that: Biological risks included: lung complications,
HIV/Aids, poor duty performance, falling , chipping and staining of teeth etc, social risks included; neglect of children, fighting
with spouse and others, influencing children to abuse sleeping pills etc, and psychological: loss of memory, mental illness,
anorexia etc were cited to be some of the risks the female youth experienced after abusing drugs and substance.