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In the last two years, Eric Mwangi’s performance has taken a downward trend for the worst much to the chagrin of his teachers and parents who had hoped the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate could score a good grade to qualify him to pursue a career in medicine.

Increasingly, achieving this dream for Eric has become a mirage, courtesy of his drug problem that has slowly pushed him from the top of his class to the bottom 10 in overall performance.

Like Eric, the alcohol and drugs problem has become a serious issue among pupils and students in both urban and rural schools.

The most recent case that only highlights the problem, especially in secondary schools involved a Nyeri-based matatu driver who was fired by his employer for driving drunken secondary school students to a police station.

“Students abusing drugs and alcohol is not an unusual thing in our schools. They exhibit drowsy behaviour— sleeping in the class— while others become violent and rude to their teachers when questioned on their activities,” observes Gladys Mureti, a guidance and counselling teacher in a high school within the Nairobi Metropolis.

A recent survey conducted by the National Authority for the Campaign Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) on the use of drugs and alcohol reveals a systemic problem in secondary schools.
According to the study titled titled ‘National Survey on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Among Secondary School Students in Kenya’, a total of 3,908 students- 60 per cent male and 40 per cent female-were interviewed from 77 randomly selected schools across the country.

A sample of students was drawn from 10 stratified regions across the country, broadly divided into Nairobi, Central, Lower Eastern, Upper Eastern, North Eastern, Coast, Upper Rift, Lower Rift, Nyanza and Western.
Overall, the survey, which was done in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research (KIPPRA) shows that students are fairly knowledgeable on the different drugs and substances of abuse, with bhang, alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, heroin, inhalants, mandrax and khat being identified by at least 80 per cent of the students as drugs.

Prescription drugs
The students were asked to mention the drugs and other substances of abuse that they had used in the last 30 days. Findings show that alcohol (3.8 per cent) was the most commonly used substance of abuse by students in the last 30 days (current use) followed by use of prescription drugs (3.6 per cent), khat/miraa (2.6 per cent), tobacco (2.5 per cent), bhang/marijuana (1.8 per cent), inhalants (0.6 per cent), heroin (0.2 per cent) and cocaine (0.2 per cent).

The three top drugs and substances of abuse reported as most readily available to students in schools are cigarettes, alcohol and khat.

Among the top four reported substances that schoolmates and friends are using, include alcohol, khat, cigarettes and prescription drugs respectively.

Students reported that they can use alcohol and drugs discretely, a notion that could contribute to students carrying substances of school abuse.

The majority of students (72.8 per cent) thought that a student could use drugs without their teachers’ knowledge.

Consequently, the majority of students, more than seven in 10 (71.3 per cent) of the students agreed that students are likely to initiate drug abuse in schools.

Indicative of the negative impact parents play in introducing their children to drugs, the survey shows that the home environment was an important risk factor for initiation of alcohol and drugs among students.
The highest proportion of students reported the home environment as the place where a drug or substance of abuse was used during the last time.

In the case of alcohol, the home environment was reported by 14.5 per cent of the students. “Teenagers look upon to their parents’ behaviour. If alcohol is served at home or taken by their guardians, teachers will have a hard time fighting the vice in schools. A father sending his son to buy cigarettes for him encourages him to take up the behaviour,” observes Mureti.

Occasions such as weddings or parties and other social activities were also sources of drugs and alcohol to students.

Among other sources of drugs are local brew dens, kiosks in school neighbourhoods, non-teaching school workers, supermarkets and even rogue teachers.

A 2021 study conducted by Dr Catherine Musyoka, a lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, College of Health Services at the University of Nairobi with three colleagues on alcohol and substance abuse among first-year students at the University of Nairobi found that lifetime and current alcohol and substance use prevalence were 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Currently frequently used substances were alcohol 22 per cent, cannabis eight per cent and tobacco seven per cent. Students living in private hostels were four times more likely to be current substance users compared with those living on campus.

NACADA recommends the inclusion of the effects of drugs in the school curriculum to equip learners with information.

Further, guidance and counselling teachers should undergo training to be able to identify and help affected students.

“At the same time, strict controls and enforcement of legislation on access to prescription drugs by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board should be enhanced,” stated the report.

There were also recommendations for NACADA to work with secondary schools in coming up with school-based alcohol and drug abuse policies that holistically address the aspects of promoting free drug environments within the school.