Objective: Problem of drug abuse in Tanzania is serious and growing one. The thrust of
this study was to identify core characteristics of drug abusers in Dar es Salaam, the
biggest commercial city of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Study design: Descriptive, cross sectional.
Place and duration of study: The study was undertaken from July-September 2007 at
three municipal councils of the city of Dar ves Salaam namely Kinondoni, Ilala and
Temeke each with a population of about 3.5 million inhabitants.
Subjects & Methods: It was a descriptive cross sectional study; interviewing 1198
adolescents male and female aged between 20-40 years recruited on random sampling
method.
Statistical Analysis and Results: Descriptive statistical analysis was used. In this study,
the highest percentage of drug abusers was found within age group of 21-30 years for
males while in the females the highest user age group was less than 20 years.
Employment status was 33.6%. Labourers with primary education were among the
highest users (63.9%). Amazingly among literates the abuse was very low (7.4%).
Regarding the marital status of respondents 57% were not married. Smoking was the
commonest route of administered drugs accounting for 90.5% of respondents
Conclusion: The study was a problem identifier of the magnitude of the problem in one
of the biggest cities of Tanzania, which can be prevented if tackled prudently.