Title : Drug (AB)use, addiction and criminal behaviour among youths in Nigeria
Abstract:
Drug abuse and addiction has remained part of contemporary and endemic problems pervading Nigerian society. The idea that drug abuse/addiction is strictly connected to the concept of criminality is well rooted in the popular tradition globally. This qualitative study explored drug abuse, addiction and criminal behavior among Nigerian youths. The psychopharmacological and economic-compulsive theoretical models was adopted to explain drugs-crime/violence nexus and served as relevant framework to analyze the linkage between drug abuse, addiction and criminal behaviour. Relevant literatures were reviewed to lay solid explanatory foundation for this study. Data for this study was collected from secondary sources and analyzed using documentary textual analysis and analytical induction. Using this method, the paper systematically explains the drug-crime/violence linkage and found that there is a connection between abusive drug use (addiction) and criminality. On this note, the study concludes that drug abuse/addiction can contribute to criminal offences among youths and to criminal activities in the country. Based on the findings, it was recommended as an intervention among others that the research and statistics unit of Nigeria Police and Correctional Service should acquire modern assessment tools for gathering detailed information on crime and psychoactive substance abuse and for digging up the level of addictive drug-using past of arrestees and inmates respectively.
Keywords: Drug (Ab)Use, Addiction, Criminal Behaviour, Criminality
