Editor,

The issue of drug abuse among youths has become so worrying that if nothing urgent is done about it our future as a nation maybe shattered. The manifestation of the dangers of drug abuse among the youths is not far fetched as it can be clearly seen in the alarming rates of crime perpetrated by young people.

Quite often, we the youth appear to be gentle but when we use such drugs as cannabis, cocaine or Indian hemp, to mention but a few, we are turned into brutal beast without the ability to control ourselves or to do anything to get what we want. As we all know, charity begins at home and what ever a child learns from home is almost likely to stick in them for the rest of their life.

Whatever is done in the family, the child will most likely follow suit. This has the effect of posing great problems. Their schoolmates and authorities may become the victims because of the influence of drugs on them. There are many cases where children receive good home training on the evils of drug abuse, but on moving out of the home into the school, the influence of their peers may cause them to indulge in drug abuse.

This way the good foundation which will have been built by the home is destroyed. We must therefore desist from drug abuse and thereby save society and ourselves from its dangers.