A shocking new report by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has revealed that nearly half of Kenyan university students have used at least one drug or substance in their lifetime.
The findings paint a grim picture of substance abuse in higher learning institutions, with alcohol, cigarettes, and shisha topping the list of commonly used substances.
“The findings of this report will make you sit up and take notice,” stated theNACADA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Omerikwa. “It reveals a very serious and growing problem of alcohol and drug abuse among the youth, particularly in higher learning institutions.”
According to the report, 45.6% of university students have experimented with drugs, raising serious concerns about the growing drug culture in institutions of higher learning.
The most widely abused substance is alcohol, with 40.5% of students admitting to having consumed it.
Other substances include cigarettes (13.4%), shisha (10.9%), vapes (8.5%), and nicotine pouches (4.6%).
Even more alarming is the ease with which students access these substances.
The report reveals that friends are the leading source of drugs at 66.4%, followed closely by canteens and bars at 59.3%. Shockingly, even lecturers and other teaching staff have been implicated, with 7% of students indicating that they accessed drugs from them.
The findings have raised red flags within the government, prompting Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to express concern over the increasing number of students overstaying in universities.
According to him, drug abuse could be a major factor contributing to delayed graduations, and he has vowed to launch investigations into the issue.
NACADA has also sounded the alarm on the rising use of synthetic drugs, which are becoming increasingly popular among young people.
The authority is now calling for urgent interventions to curb the menace before it spirals further out of control.
With these worrying statistics, the debate on how to tackle drug and substance abuse in Kenyan universities has been reignited.
