Youth in Mombasa are taking more heroin and cocaine than in any other part of the coast region.
Report by National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA), indicates that Mombasa county leads in the usage of these drugs with heroin at 5.2 percent and cocaine at 2.6%.
Speaking during a presentation at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nacada coast region program manager Lucy Wanjiku, the region has a low resource setting that bears a heavy burden of the drug problem among teenagers.
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The report shows the residents experience low income expenditure and immense inequality-income disparity, access to education, sanitation, water, lighting and housing among others which in turn makes the youth to opt to use drugs for comfort.
Meanwhile, Kilifi County leads in current use of alcohol at 10 percent, while Lamu youth use more tobacco at 13.6 percent.
Kwale youth are leading in bhang usage at 7 percent with current use, while those from Taita Taveta county are more inclined towards khat/miraa usage at 19.6 percent.
Wanjiku also said that the survey on secondary schools indicated there is need for introduction of new curriculum on alcohol and drug abuse as well as equipping the guidance and counseling teachers during their training in order to deal with Abuse of the Drug ADA issues.
She also pointed out that environment around the school are a common source for drugs for students around.
The report suggests that schools should come up with school based prevention intervention policy document that addresses not just the students but should also include the teachers and non-teaching staff and even visitors.
The survey was conducted between May and April of 2016 on youth between age 15-24 and released today Thursday by NACADA and UNODC in Nairobi.
