Introduction

Adolescents and youth face different interrelated health challenges in Ethiopia. In previous sessions you have learned about some of the major problems that affect young people's sexual and reproductive health. In this session you will learn how young people's sexual and reproductive health can be affected by the use of substances like alcohol, khat, cannabis and cigarettes. There are some undesirable effects on sexual and reproductive functions which are directly associated with substance abuse. Their indirect effects also harm the youth's sexual and reproductive health conditions negatively.

Substance abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs. Illicit drugs are those drugs which are illegal and prohibited by law. Abused substances produce some form of intoxication that alters judgment, perception, attention, or physical control. A psychoactive substance affects the functions of the brain, altering mood and distorting perception. A consequence of this is that the person's behaviour changes. Psychoactive substance use can lead to dependence syndrome, the condition where a person becomes unable to function normally without using these substances.