Drug Abuse in Kenya

from HERE

Drug abuse is an intense desire to obtain increasing amounts of a particular substance or substances to the exclusion of all other activities.

Drug dependence is the body's physical need, or addiction, to a specific agent. Over the long term, this dependence results in physical harm, behaviour problems, and association with people who also abuse drugs. Stopping the use of the drug can result in a specific withdrawal syndrome.


Substances can be taken into the body in several ways:

    Oral ingestion (swallowing)
    Inhalation (breathing in) or smoking
    Injection into the veins (shooting up)
    Depositing onto the mucosa (moist skin) of the mouth or nose (snorting)

Alcohol
Alcohol is of course the most commonly used and widely abused drug in the world. Types of alcohol include beer, wine, and spirits.
The effects of alcohol are dependent on a variety of factors, including a person's size, weight, age, and sex, as well as the amount of food and alcohol consumed.


Short-term effects

    dizziness
    talkativeness
    slurred speech
    disturbed sleep
    nausea and vomiting
    aggressive acts- including domestic violence and child abuse
    headache
    thirst
    fatigue.
    

Long-term effects

    Prolonged, heavy use of alcohol can lead to addiction (alcoholism). Sudden stopping of long term, heavy alcohol use is likely to produce withdrawal symptoms- such as severe anxiety, tremors, hallucinations and convulsions.
    Long-term effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol, especially when combined with poor eating habits, can lead to permanent damage to vital organs such as the brain and liver.
    Mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy may give birth to infants with fetal alcohol syndrome. These infants may suffer from mental retardation and other irreversible physical abnormalities. In addition, research indicates that children of alcoholic parents are at greater risk than other children of becoming alcoholics.
    

Amphetamines
An amphetamine, in tablet and pill form, is a stimulant to the central nervous system. They are inhaled, injected, or swallowed.


Short-term effects

    increased talkativeness
    increased aggressiveness
    increased breathing rate
    increased heart rate
    increased blood pressure
    reduced appetite
    dilated pupils
    visual hallucinations
    auditory hallucinations
    fever and sweating
    dry mouth
    headache
    blurred vision
    dizziness
    irregular heartbeat
    tremors
    loss of coordination
    collapse

Long-term effects

    Possible long-term effects include dependence on the drug. They are addictive.
    Violence and aggression
    Malnutrition due to poor appetite.

Cocaine

Cocaine is a drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs available. Cocaine can be snorted into the nostrils or dissolved in water and injected or smoked.

Short-term effects

    Dilated pupils
    Increased temperature
    Increased heart rate
    Increased blood pressure
    insomnia(inability to sleep)
    loss of appetite
    feelings of restlessness
    irritability, and anxiety.
    Cocaine's effects are short lived, and once the drug leaves the brain, the user experiences a "coke crash" that includes depression, irritability, and fatigue.
    

Long-term effects

    paranoia.
    aggressive paranoid behavior in users
    depression
    prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose.
    

Heroin

Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. It is a white to dark brown powder or tar-like substance. Heroin can be injected into a vein, injected into a muscle, smoked in a water pipe or standard pipe, mixed in a marijuana joint or regular cigarette, inhaled as smoke through a straw or snorted as powder via the nose.


Short-term effects

    feeling happy
    feeling warm
    dry mouth
    feeling that your arms and legs are heavy
    feeling sleepy
    slowed and slurred speech
    vomiting and constipation.

Long-term effects

Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some period of time. Chronic users may develop

    collapsed veins
    infections of the heart
    skin infections
    liver disease
    pneumonia

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect. As higher doses are used over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced or stopped. Withdrawal, which can occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces restlessness, muscle and bone pain, inability to sleep, diarrhea and vomiting, feeling cold, kicking movements and other symptoms. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health can lead to death.


Marijuana
Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). Most users roll loose marijuana into a cigarette called a "joint". It can be smoked or mixed into food or brewed as tea.


Short-term effects

    Short-term effects of marijuana include problems with memory and learning
    trouble with thinking and problem solving
    loss of motor coordination
    increased heart rate and
    anxiety
    dry mouth and throat.
    

Long-term effects

Marijuana smoke contains some of the same cancer-causing compounds as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.


Inhalants
Inhalants are ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed by children to get high. There are hundreds of household products on the market today that can be misused as inhalants. Examples of products used are:


    glue
    nail polish remover
    cleaning fluids
    hair spray
    petrol and others.
    

These products are sniffed, snorted or inhaled from a plastic bag. Inhalants are also sniffed directly from the container.


Short-term effects

    feeling excited
    losing consciousness
    headache
    muscle weakness
    abdominal pain
    severe mood swings and violent behavior
    numbness and tingling of the hands and feet
    nausea
    hearing loss
    fatigue and
    lack of coordination.
    

Long-term effects

Sniffing highly concentrated amounts of the chemicals can directly cause death


    death from suffocation
    hearing loss
    brain damage
    liver and kidney damage.

Deliberately inhaling from an attached paper or plastic bag or in a closed area greatly increases the chances of suffocation.


Medical Treatment
The key to treatment is stopping the abuse of the drugs or substances.

Agitated or violent people need physical restraint and may need sedating medications in the emergency department until the effects of the drugs wear off. This can be disturbing for the person to experience and for family members to witness. Medical professionals go to great lengths to use as little force and as few medications as possible. It is important to remember that whatever the medical staff does, it is to protect the person.

Withdrawal from some drugs can cause a lot of problems, and stopping these drugs should only be done under the supervision of a doctor. Withdrawal from other agents, such as narcotics, is uncomfortable but generally not harmful, and the doctor will give medicine to reduce the side effects.

Counselling programs may be suggested. These programs are helpful to some people.

ICT INVESTMENT FOR KENYAN ENTREPRENEURS

Kenyan entrepreneurs willing to set up internet access centres in rural areas can apply for a loan from the Kenya ICT Board. To access the loan, entrepreneurs should submit a business plan proposal to the Kenya ICT Board, a government body mandated with promoting Kenya as a regional technology hub

Entrepreneurs who receive funding to establish the centers will also receive technical support and consultancy services from the board.

The internet access centres also known as Pasha Centers is a Government initiative to increase digital inclusion and increase access to efficient electronic Government (eGovernment) services. Up to 210 centers will be established countrywide in the next two years.

The Pasha centers will be equipped with between 5 to 30 computers connected to the internet, fax machines and printers among other equipment. They will provide access to government services, such as online applications for identity cards, birth certificates and loan applications to government funds. They will also offer computer and vocational training and entertainment services.

To be eligible for funding, the business plan proposal should illustrate the entrepreneurs’ ability to establish and operate an internet access centre. The proposals should be handed in before 25^th February 2011.

www.africareport.com/latest-business-news/2011/02/10/loans-for-kenyan-entrepreneurs

 

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