Wouldn't it be so unfair not to mention male substance abuse?
As both gender practices the act of substance substance abuse, I would have like to focus on the female. Young teen girls grows, and as part of their growth they faces lots of issues.
Young girls practicing substance abuse comes from several ways, and some of that ways are lack of parental care and control.
Some comes from the influence of their young fellow friends. Substance abuse serves on one of the boundaries that prevents young girls from whom they want become. Parental guidance is Important factor for a growing young girl, when she loses it she had lost apart her child support.
In Ghana, 26 February 2023, African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), revealed 34.4% of girls smoke shisha at the JHS/SHS level after making a survey. Further findings of the survey revealed that 32.1% of girls use alcohol in schools. The survey also disclosed that 72.7% of girls use pain relievers in schools.
"They (students) don't eat well and that is really causing stress in them, thereby making them engage in substance abuse" Chairman of the Committee, Bright Appiah as quoted by myjoyonline
This means enough food is not been supplied for students who stays at at boarding schools. And students at home and students at the JHS level do not have enough food support from their parents or guardian. When it goes further, one can not tell how the situation is going be in near future.
Unemployment makes some of the parents and guardian loose passion to support their young female children, and at their teen age they are convince to bad acts easily.
A result of biology, process, metabolize and eliminate drugs of abuse, girls are very differently than their male counterpart. In general, they are sensitive to consumption of alcohol and drugs and more prone to their long term effects. Girls are quicker to develop dependence, organ damage, and disease relating to substance abuse.
The act of abusing substance prevents girls from reaching out their goals.
This reduces their strength and damages their sense of thinking. Despite substance abuse is high health risk to teen age girls, it brings down their knowledge, drops their ambition and when it goes deep in one of them, she loses her respect to other people.
Wouldn't it be so good and safe for young girls to build on their aims around the love ones at home with their family and friends?.
But act of substance abuse has separated most of them from their people.
Girls as this kind needs lots of attention and help. Every single being has an impact to the society.
We don't need let it reach the higher level. The moment we see friends getting association with the substance abuse, we can start advising them or report that to health departments near us.
This would bring more solidarity in our societies.