Objective: To assess the frequency of drug addiction amongst youth residing in Hyderabad, Pakistan and to explore the types and causes of drug addiction in study population.
Methodology: This descriptive observational study was carried out from March 9, to August 20, 2018 and included 120 young adults who were directly or indirectly involved in drug abuse/misuse. Random sampling method was used. A modified questionnaire was used to collect demographic information, types and frequency, causes of drug abuse and awareness about drug addiction harms. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 21.
Results: The participants between age 15-20 years were 70% harmed by drug abuse; most affected people were uneducated (38.3%) and unmarried (76.6%). Most of the students (41.6%) were involved in drug addiction. Mostly, 73.34% participants were involved in different types of drug addiction in which 25% used alcohol. Remaining 14.99% were involved in cigarette smoking and 11.66% were addicted to chewing tobacco, gutka and niswar. Possible causes of drug addiction were drug dependence in 15% and 55% were not aware about drug addiction.
Conclusion: It was concluded that drug dependence is the major factor that leads to drug abuse.
Raheela Afzal, Sadaf Laghari, Shumail Hussain, Fahad Jibran Sial, Muhammad Ali Ghoto, Mudassar Iqbal. (2020) Frequency of drug Addiction in youth:A case study from Hyderabad region, Pakistan, , Volume 45, Issue-2.
