High town: Nairobi leads in Cannabis consumption - Report

A newly-released report has ranked Nairobi as the region with the highest rate of Cannabis consumption in the country.

According to the national survey dubbed the “Status of Drugs and Substance Use (DSU) in Kenya, 2022, Nairobi has the highest prevalence of cannabis use at 6.3 per cent followed by Nyanza (2.4%) and the Coast region (1.9%).

The report released by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) indicates that the number of people currently using cannabis countrywide has increased by 90 percent in the last 5 years.

"One in every 53 Kenyans aged 15 – 65 years (518,807) were currently using cannabis," indicates the report.

More males than females in the country were found to be currently consuming cannabis.

"One in every 26 males aged 15 – 65 years (475,770) and 1 in every 333 females (43,037) were currently using cannabis," adds the report.

The survey has attributed the growing demand for cannabis, especially among the youth, to "low perception of harm due to myths, misinformation, and misconceptions."

Meanwhile, the most abused drug in the country remains  alcohol followed by tobacco, khat and cannabis respectively.