According to the latest study by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), the number of people using cannabis, also known as bhang, has gone up by 90% over the past five years.
This national survey called the “Status of Drugs and Substance Use (DSU) in Kenya, 2022,” was released recently.
It revealed that approximately one out of every 53 Kenyans between the ages of 15 and 65, which is about 518,807 people, currently use this drug.
Out of these users, approximately one in every 26 is male (475,770), and one in every 333 is female (43,037).
Nairobi had the highest rate of bhang consumption at 6.3%, followed by Nyanza at 2.4%, and Coast at 1.9%.
When looking at the most commonly abused substances in Kenya, bhang ranked fourth, with khat (also known as Miraa), tobacco, and alcohol taking the top three spots.
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Within the same age group of 15-65 years, around 3,199,119 people were found to be using alcohol, with most of them residing in Western Kenya.
Nairobi had the highest prevalence of legally manufactured alcohol at 10.3%, followed by Central at 10.0%, and Eastern at 8.4%.
Chang’aa and traditional liquor use were most common in the Western region, while potable spirits were popular in the Central region.
The survey revealed that there are about 2,305,929 tobacco users nationwide, with the majority living in Central Kenya.
In terms of Miraa use, the Eastern region had the highest number of chewers, with a total of 964,737 recorded nationwide.
This survey was conducted in selected areas across the country and included Kenyans aged 15 to 65 years.
The sample was taken from the Kenya Household Master Sample Frame (K-HMSF) maintained by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
NACADA noted that this survey follows up on previous surveys conducted in 2007, 2012, and 2017.
It serves as a tool to assess the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing the demand and supply of drugs and substances over the past five years.
