Abstract

Background: Drug addiction is a condition which characterized by an overwhelming desire to continue taking a drug through which one has become habituated for repeated consumption. At present, drug addiction is one of the serious problems which affect not only the addicted people but also the society as a whole. This problem becomes common in Ethiopia recently which resulted in different socio economic problems. The problem of drug addiction is also common in Nazareth as social problem. The substance abuse includes Alcohol, chat, cigarette and others in the town. The objective of this study is to assess the level of drug addiction and it associated factor among youths in Nazareth Town Ethiopia. Methods: community based cross sectional study design was used to conduct this study. A total of 406 youths were taken by systematic random sampling technique to conduct this study. Logistic regression and cross-tabulation was done to see the association between dependent and independent variables. Result: Among 406 participants 283 (70%) are addicted for one or more than one substance. From the total addicted respondents 93 (23%) are females. The age distribution of drug addiction is almost similar with 205 (51%) among youths age 15 to 20 and 201 (49%) among youths age 21 to 24 years old. Most of the addicted are single (not married) 258 (63.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of substance use among youths in Nazareth tawon is high. The addiction varies from individual to individual. Most of the youths are addicted more than one drug. Some of the cause of drug addiction of youths in this study are enjoyment, unemployment, failure in academic achievement, family disagreement, Hopelessness and peer pressure. Seventy percent (70%) have positive attitude toward drug addiction.

Keywords: Drug addiction; Cross-sectional; Youth; Nazareth