Cannabis use among young people in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a qualitative study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with initiation and continued use of cannabis among youths in Dar es salaam, Tanzania. The study employed an explorative qualitative design, using in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling and snowball techniques were used to obtain the study participants. The collected data was subjected to content analysis and the study involved a sample of twelve participants whereby eight of them were cannabis users and four were parents. The findings revealed that loss of parents, having peers who smoke cannabis, being raised in broken family, as well as choosing a career the child did not like were among the factors linked to initiation of cannabis use. Furthermore, the study revealed delinquency behavior in school as well as lack of interest in school life, disregard to religious and parental could be strong indicators for the use of cannabis among youths. Further more the study highlighted issues related to cannabis use like readiness to quit and challenges anticipated and factors associated with continuing use of cannabis.
The study concludes that, there are many factors in families and communities that predispose youths to engage in cannabis use. The majority of those factors seem to emanate from within families and the society at large.

Key Words: cannabis use, Dar-es-Salaam, substance abuse, delinquency behaviour