ABSTRACT:
The abuse of chemicals particularly psychoactive substances has been on the increase amongst the youth populace to the extent of becoming a front burner and top category public health concern in many developing nations of Africa, hence the aim of this study to evaluate the use of psychoactive substance and its risk factors among secondary school students in Port Harcourt LGA of Rivers State, so as to establish the prevalence rate of the use of the substances among the student populace. The research is a prospective study of 450 students of age between 11- 21 years, chosen randomly in secondary schools of Rivers State. A pre-coded structured and self-administered substance use questionnaire was employed in the survey with the contents ascertained by experts. The results showed that a range of between 68% - 83% of the respondents claimed knowledge of the use of substance. 21.7% claimed part use of substance while 52.1% and 30.5% claimed ever and current use respectively. The commonly used substances were cannabis- 16.7%, tobacco- 14.3%, alcohol- 8.3%, and analgesics-0 46.7%. The overall prevalence among the respondents was 30%. Generally, the study revealed that the male drug users were significantly higher than the female drug users and also indicated that majority of the substance users were influenced by psychological factors. It is suggested that there is need to develop a viable substance abuse preventive programme in our schools. This study is recommended as a material for stakeholders of education for strategic health preventive campaigns.