The Causes And Consequences Of Drug Abuse And Addiction Among Women Drug Users In Zanzibar: A Case Of Urban West Region Unguja

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the causes and consequences of drug abuse and addiction among women drug users in Zanzibar. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying various causes that lead women to start and get into drug use, characterizing the addiction stages that women drug users go through in their living, identifying the consequence of drug abuse and addiction on women who use drugs and eventually, this study investigates how government and other organization taking measure on helping victim women on recovering the habit. The sample size was 105 respondents whereby questionnaires were used for women from Soba houses and women who were not living in Soba houses while the interview method of data collection were used to the health care providers, the rationale was to have a wide range of data. The Statistical Package for Social Science version 16.0 (SPSS) was used to analyse the collected data. The findings of the study indicate that demographic factors such as age (age between 18 to 35), marital status (single) and low level of education significantly influence young women to enter in drug abuse with the exception of religious, this presents complexity. Also peer pressure, availability and affordability of drugs and sex working activity significantly influences women to start and enter in illegal drug use. As substance use starts as early as mid primary school which calls for an early intervention. The study recommends that the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Vocation training in Zanzibar to develop curricular for primary schools to address substance use problems and among others address the school factors and their role in protecting youth from substance use. Efforts on preventions and interventions should be made to enhance protective factors through family-based intervention like parental or family training, provision of nation-wide meaningful youth engagement, and reduce risk factor, instead of focusing on the drug issue per se and individual. The target would not only cover among the school youth girls but also drop-out, unemployed or working youngsters.