Selected Demographic Factors and Substance Use, Reason for first Time Substance Use, and Risk Awareness Among Halaba Secondary School Students in Ethiopia

The aim of the present study was to find out whether the secondary school students were aware of the risk of substance use and to find out the reason why they first used substance. Halaba secondary school was strategically chosen for this study due to its relevance. Out of the total 5,518 students 811 grades 9 through 12 students were selected by using proportionate stratified random sampling technique to participate in this study. Survey and focus group discussions were used to collect data. One way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that substance use was not found to be significantly different by family size and age group of respondents at 0.05 significance level (p>0.05). Among the substance user respondents 68 (28 %) used substance first to stay awake at night for study, 64(26.4%)due to combination of reasons,42 (17.3%) to get relief from depression,34 (14.0%)to pass time & 29 (11.9%)out of curiosity Also,420 (51.7%) of the total respondents reported that they were aware of risks associated with substance use while almost half of the participants reported otherwise. Furthermore, the majority of respondents 205 (25.3%) and 107 (13.2%)reported school and family respectively as their major sources of information while religious organizations ,media and various sources were mentioned by others. Health problem, addiction, crime, conflict and academic problems were respectively reported as risks of substance use. Better awareness should be created on the risk of substance use among secondary school students. Also, healthy means of pass time and recreation should be in place to prevent substance use among the youth.