Aasai

Drug is any chemical that when taken,it alters normal functioning of an individual from normalcy to abnormalcy and from abnormalcy to normalcy.Drugs can be classified into two categories which include:

1.Hard drugs 

Hard drugs include Bhang, cocaine,cosmo, Alcohol and many more.Hard drugs are further classified into legal and illegal drugs.

Legal drugs are those that are authorised by the state to be sold to the members of the public and the various examples include Alcohol,wines and spirits.

Illegal drugs on the other hand are prohibited by the state to be sold to anyone in the state because of their detrimental effects.A good example in Kenya is Bhang and local brews since the effects of local brews include blindness like the case reported in nyeri.At the same time,it was found clear that the effect of the local brews led to several number of deaths.The families of the victims strongly opposed the local brewers since some of the death victims were potential breadwinners in their homes.The big question is until when will we be losing individuals due to illegal drugs?

According to NACADAS latest report,it showed that drugs are not only abused by adults or parents but also school going children in the country.But first,what is this drug and substance abuse?Drug abuse refers to the use of drugs so as to feel pleasurable effects like a feeling of highness.Drug misuse refers to the incorrect use of drugs.The research conducted by NACADA showed that university students in Kenya are increasingly abusing drugs with alcohol taking the bigger percentage in the rank.

The various sources where the students may get access to these drugs include from peers,teachers,non teaching staffs and nearest shops and canteens.With the rising cases, NACADA proposed that clubs should be atleast three hundred metres away from the learning institutions including primary schools,colleges and universities.This is an effort to curb and control drug abuse among children and school going individuals since easy accesibility can be a trigger.

2.Prescribed drugs 

These are the drugs we get from various chemists.They include drugs like painkillers for example paracetamol and ibuprofen,cough syrups and cosmo.The following drugs can also be misused and abused as well.When frequently misused and abused they can easily lead to addiction.Addiction refers to a psychological disorder characterised by the inability to stop consuming a substance.

The effects of drugs include addiction, which is the inability to stop consuming a substance,truancy which is frequent absenteeism from school, Accidents since drugs impair judgements and driving when drank may result to accident because of hallucinations that people may experience after using drugs.Other effects of drugs include conflicts in the families and stealing since one will need money to buy drugs which maybe very costly.

 To conclude,drugs and substances can be very harmful and may cause detrimental effects on an individuals life.Therefore it is better to prevent than to cure.Prevention is better than Alcohol abuse can lead to complications in physical health for example liver cirrhosis