ISSN: 2575-9981
Authors: Dengela TA*
Background: It has long been known that using drugs like alcohol, khat, and tobacco is one of the main causes of human suffering. It is now regarded as one of the most significant socioeconomic and public health concerns in the world. Although it has an impact on many facets of society, juvenile substance abuse is alarmingly on the rise. Objective: This study’s goal is to evaluate how social drug usage affects students’ academic performance, specifically among those who will undergraduate from Africa medical college in 2023. Methodology: A cross-sectional study that was done on an institutional level among Africa medical college undergraduates. For the current study, a sample of 173 students was selected using a straightforward random selecting procedure from nine departments. Result: This survey included a total of 173 graduating students from various departments. Overall, 97.4 women, or 64.2%, and 174.5 women, or 35.8%, were present. Social drugs were taken by 33.6% of people at some point in their life. The most often used social drugs, according to this study, were beer, khat, and cigarettes (41.8%, 40.7%, and 12.1%, respectively). The most frequent effects of social drug use on students’ academic performances were higher absenteeism from class (31.9%) and a decline in cumulative grade point (27.5%), followed by a lack of interest in routine activities (25.3%) and worsening academic performance (15.2%), according to respondents. Peer pressure and socialization (17.8%) were the two most frequent reasons given by respondents, whereas academic unhappiness (13.3%), the desire to improve academic performance (11.1%), and loss of family control (8.9%) were the least frequent. Age, Religion, Ever Social Drug Use, Current Social Drug Use, Started Using Social Drug Use, and Impact of Social Drug Use show statistically significant associations with CGPA, according to statistical analysis and p-value. Conclusion and Recommendation: The studies revealed that social drug use had a negative impact on kids’ academic performance. The most prevalent outcomes were an increase in absences from school, a drop in cumulative grade point, and a decrease of interest in everyday chores. Khat, alcohol, and cigarettes were the most popular social drugs. This finding calls for further in-depth investigation into the various challenges connected to social drug use as well as instruction by responsible organizations about the detrimental effects that social drug use has on students’ academic performance, particularly when they first enrol in college.
Keywords: Drug use in Society; Its Effects; Academic Performance
