ABSTRACT:
The abuse of chemicals particularly psychoactive substances has been on the increase amongst the youth
populace to the extent of becoming a front burner and top category public health concern in many developing
nations of Africa, hence the aim of this study to evaluate the use of psychoactive substance and its risk factors
among secondary school students in Port Harcourt LGA of Rivers State, so as to establish the prevalence rate of
the use of the substances among the student populace. The research is a prospective study of 450 students of age
between 11- 21 years, chosen randomly in secondary schools of Rivers State. A pre-coded structured and selfadministered
substance use questionnaire was employed in the survey with the contents ascertained by experts.
The results showed that a range of between 68% - 83% of the respondents claimed knowledge of the use of
substance. 21.7% claimed part use of substance while 52.1% and 30.5% claimed ever and current use
respectively. The commonly used substances were cannabis- 16.7%, tobacco- 14.3%, alcohol- 8.3%, and
analgesics-0 46.7%. The overall prevalence among the respondents was 30%. Generally, the study revealed that
the male drug users were significantly higher than the female drug users and also indicated that majority of the
substance users were influenced by psychological factors. It is suggested that there is need to develop a viable
substance abuse preventive programme in our schools. This study is recommended as a material for stakeholders
of education for strategic health preventive campaigns.