More than 37 per cent of primary school pupils would be tempted and likely to use drugs if an opportunity arose, the national drugs authority says.
It said 37.6 per cent of those in rural areas said they would be tempted, as compared to 38.4 per cent of urban pupils. The percentages are 40 and 35.6 per cent girls and boys, respectively.
The study was done by the National Authority For The Campaign Against Alcohol And Drug Abuse (Nacada) and presented at a recent conference on drugs abuse in Nairobi.
The report further shows indicates pupils from urban areas ( 60.2 per cent) are more likely to say no when offered a cigarette than those in the rural areas ( 59.2 per cent).
The rate of saying no to alcohol and bhang stands at 55.1, with the about same percentage in both rural and urban areas.
“As for cocaine 56 per cent of pupils indicated they would definitely say ‘no’ to an offer,” the report says.
Pupils from the urban areas had a higher proportion of those saying no once when offered cocaine, compared to counterparts in the rural areas, at 59 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.
“Boys had a lower proportion among those responding with a definite ‘no’ ( 55.3 per cent) relative to girls ( 57.0 per cent),” it says.
Class seven and eight pupils are likely to say no to cocaine with a proportion of nearly 60 per cent relative to Class 5 pupils at 52 per cent.
“This can be attributed to improved knowledge of the harmful effects of the substances of abuse at higher levels of education and as the pupils grow older,” the report adds.
The report commissioned by Nacada was conducted by Kippra in June, among 25 counties in the country. It was targeting pupils aged 11 to 15 between class five and eight.
Alcohol and tobacco also had the highest prevalence for reported current use by primary school pupils with proportions of 3.2 and 2.6 per cent respectively.
The current use of miraa and heroin were 2.3 and 1.2 per cent respectively. Most of the drugs abusers are boys.