ABSTRACT
This study assesses the prevalence of substance abuse among undergraduates in the University of Benin. Five research questions were raised to guide the study. A review of related literature was carried out in order to discuss concepts related to the study. The concept of substance abuse, commonly abused substances by students, factors contributing to substance abuse among students, consequences of substance abuse, and prevention of substance abuse among undergraduates. The Social Learning Theory and the Structural Strain Theory were the premises on which the study was based. More so, a review of empirical studies was undertaken. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 77,000 undergraduates in the University of Benin. A sample of one hundred (100) respondents was included in the study.
Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics for research questions 1, 2 and 3 and inferential statistics for research questions 4 and 5. The reliability of the instrument of the retrieved instrument was ascertained using the Cronbach alpha formula.
The findings of the study reveal that the extent of perceived substance abuse was high among undergraduates, whereby school environment and, the need to stay active contribute to the prevalence and Alcohol, cannabis, caffeine, cigarettes/tobacco, tramadol, ecstasy, codeine, sleeping pills, weed cake and cookies were identified as substances commonly abused by students.
It was recommended amongst others that the school authority should consider campus-wide campaigns and programs aim at reinforcing the short and long-term consequences of substance abuse. This will serve as a form of enlightenment that will raise their consciousness about the need to shun substance abuse and policy-makers should be sensitive to the increase in substance abuse among youths and draw up policies aimed at controlling the circulation and consumption of heinous substances.
