| Abstract: | Drug abuse is a growing problem in Ethiopia, as in many developing countries. It affects
millions of people and places enormous financial and social burdens on society. It destroys
families, damages the economy and affects the larger community. In Ethiopia, street youth
involved in drug abuse also constitute considerable portion of the bigger drug abusing
community. Although it has been known that this problem is a pressing issue, the real extent
and magnitude of the drug abuse is not yet properly explored. The overall objective of this
study is to identify and understand the living condition of drug abusing street youth in Yeka
sub city special area Kotebe College, Addis Ababa. It also aim to specifically identify
factors that contributes to the initiation of drug abuse, risks and effects of it, the types of
drugs abused, reasons for continuing drug use and their intention to stop. Qualitative
research method was deployed to gather and analyze the required date. 13 male and female
street youth participated in the depth interview and 8 female and male youth took part in the
FGD. In-depth interviews and FGD, key informants interview and observation techniques
were used as a source of data collection method. Individual case histories were also
featured along with the data to supplement the findings. The findings of the study reveals the
invisible fact behind the street youth’s drug abusing behavior. Majority of the study
participants joined street due to insufficient family income and peer pressure. Cigarette,
alcohol, khat, sniffing gasoline and hashish are the drugs abused by the study participants.
Curiosity, family factor, peer influence, positive enforcements of drug, availability and
normalization among the street youth encouraged the street youth to try drugs at the
beginning. Pleasure seeking, relief from stress, to increase physical strength, fear of
withdrawal feeling, to kill time and to resist cold and hanger are the main reasons that they
are using drug regularly. From this finding, it is possible to conclude that, drug abuse is big
problem among the street youth and their intention to stop is low. Finally, in line with the
above problem, the researcher recommended strong law enforcements against drug abuse,
integrated community awareness raising and prevention program an involvement of Social
workers in addressing such issue. Building rehabilitation center and psychiatrist treatment
and establishing youth centers were also needed to address the issue |
