Substance abuse and practices and their consequences among adolescents and young adults in Mangalore

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Substance abuse is the recent trend among college students. Studies conducted in India shows clear indications of increasing prevalence of substance abuse among adolescents. Aims and Objectives:To assess the practice prevalence and consequences of drug abuse among adolescent students. Materials and Methods: This Institution based cross-sectional study conducted in different schools and colleges of Mangalore. Institutions were randomly picked with pen drop method and 5 institution students were selected as study subjects. Totally 487 students between institutions were selected, the age group of 15-25 years were included in the study. The data was collected by means of answering a pretested validated questionnaire with anonymity. Result: According to our study the results showed that 8.60% have tried some substance of abuse such as marijuana (5.51%), LSD (1.10%), cocaine (1.32%) and others (1.76%). Among the Substance users, 1.54% used it regularly, 1.76% occasionally and 2.20% only once. 33.03% said it has affected their daily activities and academics 21.05% had picked up a quarrel with friends, family or detained by police. Conclusion: Caffeine consumption in the form coffee is quite common amongst the students as a habit. Marijuana is the most popular drug among the small fraction of students who have tried drugs. Most of them tried it first in college, mainly being influenced by peers.