Investigating Causes of Drug Abuse /effects /intervention Strategies in Kenya

A drug is any substance other than food that provides nutritional support that, when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed, absorbed via a patch on the skin, or dissolved under the tongue causes a temporary physiological and often psychological change in the body.

There are three types of drugs namely stimulants,depressants and hallucinogens.Stimulants are drugs that when taken speed up the brain and central nervous system. They temporarily increase alertness and energy. The most commonly known and easily available legal stimulants are nicotine and caffeine. The most widely used nicotine-containing product is tobacco and with caffeine, tea, coffee and certain colas are commonly ingested for the stimulant effect. Both have varying degrees of stimulatory effects on the central nervous system. Stafford(2003).Some of these stimulant drugs are legal and widely used in Kenya. Types of Stimulants are Amphetamines, Caffeine, Cocaine, Diet Pill, Methamphetamines and Ritalin.

Depressants are drugs that when taken slow down the brain and central nervous system. These drugs include opiates and opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, tranquilizers and alcohol. Due to their effects, these drugs can be referred to as downers. Liquor is the most every now and again utilized depressant. Kinds of liquor incorporate lager, wine, and alcohol. Liquor is a psychoactive medication that lessens consideration and moderates response speed. Liquor inebriation influences the cerebrum, causing slurred discourse, awkwardness, and deferred reflexes. Other physiological impacts incorporate changed view of room and time, diminished psychomotor aptitudes, upsetting balance. The prompt impacts of a lot of liquor incorporate impelled discourse, irritated rest, queasiness, and spewing. Indeed, even at low dosages, liquor altogether weakens judgment and coordination.

Sedatives are found in opium. The significant dynamic sedatives found in opium are morphine, codeine, thebaine, and papaverine. Semi-engineered opioid, for example, heroin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone are gotten from these substances also. Sedatives can be infused, grunted, or smoked. The transient impact of sedative mishandle comprises of a surge of elation combined with a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and overwhelming furthest points. Following beginning happiness, clients exchange between an attentive and lazy state. Mental working winds up obfuscated because of the despondency of the focal sensory system. Stafford(2003).Sedatives are utilized to treat uneasiness or issues with rest. They have a quieting impact by discouraging the sensory system in a route like liquor. They are the most ordinarily endorsed mental prescriptions. They create an unwinding and tension diminishing impact. Minor sedatives have coordinate depressant consequences for mind territories that control attentiveness and readiness. They upgrade the activity of receptors that fortify the sensory system. Real sedatives essentially influence particular receptors in the mind that decrease insane contemplations, recognitions and fomentation.  A hallucinogen is a psychoactive agent which can cause hallucinations, perceptual anomalies, and other substantial subjective changes in thoughts, emotion, and consciousness.

There are three types of hallucinogens namely Deliriants, Dissociates and Psychedelics. Deliriant hallucinogen drugs alter a person’s sensory perceptions to the point where the mind concocts imaginary scenes that have no basis in his or her external reality. Examples of deliriants are jimson weed, datura and deadly nightshade. Dissociative types of hallucinogens essentially sever a person’s consciousness from his or her immediate environment. In effect, dissociative drug effects allow the mind to create its own reality in terms of sensory perceptions and emotional experiences. Examples include PCP, magic mushroom, DXM and ketamine. Psychedelic drugs interrupt the brain’s ability to filter out extraneous sensory details from the immediate environment. This particular ability enables a person to function effectively in the real world. Examples include LSD, Mescaline and Peyote. Now that we know about the major classifications of drugs and some of their effects ,I'm going to focus on Heroine drug abuse in Kenya.

Causes of heroine abuse

One of the major leading factors that cause the youth to start drug abuse is poverty. The youth drop out of school because of lack of school fees others drop out to help their parents at their work places. During this period you find that they have a lot of free time on their hands. Some end up making friends with the deviants who introduce them to the drugs at first its just for recreational purposes but after a while the body becomes more tolerant to the drug which makes them crave a higher dose and this leads to addiction.

Joblessness among youth is another motivation behind why they enjoy tranquilize mishandle, as they are regularly sit without moving. Because of absence of employments, the grown-ups have depended on selling heroine to schoolchildren with a specific end goal to gain a living. They couldn't care less to whom they offer heroine to or whether it isn't right or not to do as such as long as that they gain a wage. Joblessness after school implies that the young swing to drugs for comfort.

Curiosity among young people is reinforced by thrillers, rap music and films which glorify the use of heroine and other hard drugs. Others may think its cool to use drugs because they hear about it in music and see such activities on television and in the movies.

Peer pressure is another cause of heroine abuse in the coastal region. You find that the youth love partying especially university and secondary school children. Once they go for these parties they are introduced to heroine there and because they want to fit in they follow suit just as they saying goes when in Rome do as the Romans do .I believe this is one saying that must go through their minds when doing the drugs. At the parties the youth don't begin abusing heroine immediately its a process first they start drinking alcohol and smoking bhang then they are eventually graduated to use of hard drugs such as heroine.

Lack of knowledge of drugs is one factor that has caused the youth to be involved in abuse of heroine. Some have friends who think that smoking bhang is okay since its a plant that grows naturally so the smoke it on a regular basis. In Kenya use of bhang is illegal so there's no way of knowing what the bhang your smoking has inside. So you find that others will infuse heroine inside the bhang and bring it to parties then by the time one realizes what is inside it the are already addicted and cannot do without it.

Some of the youth who begin using heroine have poor role models. You find that some of their parents are drug addicts therefore the children have no one to look up to and end up the same way as they parents. The youth decide to engage in heroine use just to escape their troubles. Not having a good role model can seriously impact the life of a young child and grow up and get exposed to drugs.

Effects of heroine abuse

Generally, the consequences of exploitation heroin set in speedily, however it all depends on the tactic of delivery. Snorting or smoking heroin usually needs ten to fifteen minutes for the drug’s full effects to be felt. Injecting heroin could be a abundant quicker technique of ingesting heroin. It takes five to eight minutes for associate intra-muscular heroin injection to line in, whereas it takes all of seven to eight seconds for associate injection to require impact for many initial time users, nausea and disgorgement is common

For those smoking or shooting heroin, a brief amount of intense pleasure known as a “rush” sets in, followed by a way of happiness and a state of physical relaxation, each of that area unit indicators of a heroin high. This “high” typically lasts 3 to four hours. other than the standard elation that accompanies heroin use, the user conjointly alternates between alertness and somnolence. there's an exact degree of lack of water in their mouth, and their skin seems flushed and feels heat. Heroin conjointly slows their respiratory down, and their muscles feel weak. during this state, any issues or problems the user has in their life appear to soften away.

As the immediate effects of heroin slowly dissipate, the user would possibly feel begin feeling irritable. Depression from heroin use is additionally quite common. for several users, the sole thanks to get obviate these non-pleasurable sensations and regain the “high” is to start out doing heroin once more. It doesn’t take abundant for a heroin user to become a full blown drug addict, particularly once the user develops a tolerance to the drug and starts to require additional so as to urge that very same high.

Long term effects

One of the major effect that I found out about heroine was the spread of HIV/AIDS. This is due to the method in which the users choose to intake the drug. Some use syringes to inject themselves with the drugs and they end up sharing them leading to the spread of the disease. Remember the users don't have a source of income so at times they may really need to get high but don't have the funds to make this happen. What they do is go to a friend who already has the drug inside their bloodstream draw the blood from them and inject themselves to get high. Through this method you find out that the disease spreads as they are directly exchanging blood. Some end up dying cause of addiction or diseases related to HIV/AIDs. Others get into prostitution to get the money to buy their daily fix and end up having unprotected sex with infected people.

Heroin addiction has its worth, which worth if pretty steep. There square measure numerous long run physical effects of heroin use. For one, Constant heroin use causes the brain to scale back or perhaps stop manufacturing its own endorphins. once this can be the case, the addict’s body becomes barely capable of managing little amounts of pain or discomfort. This inability is particularly exaggerated within the early stages of heroin withdrawal, creating early recovery or heroin ward a very tough exercise. Once heroin detoxification is finished, the brain sometimes starts manufacturing endorphins once more. However, the damaging effects of heroin on the brain may take years to pass though.

The future psychological effects of heroin use also are nice. it's quite common for heroin addicts to search out it exhausting to concentrate, learn something new, or perhaps organize a transparent thought.  Personal relationships additionally take a beating thanks to heroin, as heroin addicts tend to become apathetic and unmindful of the implications of their addiction to heroin. Worst of all, heroin triggers extremely freewheeling and unsafe behavior in constant users, particularly once they resort to criminal acts to urge their next heroin fix.

Healthy relationships area unit a key part of society. These relationships will embrace marriages, parent-child relationships, and general family and friend relationships. When somebody is dependent on heroin, it destroys relationships and may cause divorces and neglected and abandoned youngsters. somebody on opiate tends to be unable to keep up honest relationships with the individuals around them, and that they will exhibit unpredictable or dangerous behavior that diminishes relationships and families. Heroin use has additionally been related to force, loss of custody of youngsters, and money issues that may lead families of individuals on opiate to expertise everything from receiving money help from the government. to being homeless.

Intervention Strategies that the government of Kenya can do to curb drug abuse

Treatment and rehabilitation whereby interventions by government medical professionals, psychologists and counselors are aimed towards aiding medicine. This is in a bid to to get substance abusers to get over impacts and effects of abuses and supporting them towards reintegration with society. Educating the public, whereby data on medicine and substances by the government is past onto the youth with the aim of informing and have an impact on their attitudes, habits, values and beliefs for management of medication and misuse.

Legislation and controlling of laws whereby international conventions are domesticated by the government of Kenya through enactment of acts of parliament and alternative national and county government laws on medicine and substances. Also, through mechanism by which they're enforced for effective management of medication and substances abuse. Control of medication and substances abuse through the government’s plan to control unnecessary and harmful use of chemicals employed in treatment, the cure bar or identification of diseases for physical or mental well-being and additionally chemicals used for recreation purposes. Creating awareness by avoiding stigmatizing addicts. The Labelling Theory insists that one is portrayed by others in the image that has been made of them. Therefore, trying to show care and avoid harsh criticism is a means to an end to this stigma.