By Yvonne Gitau

If scientists were to analyze the components of air in Kenyan campuses, they would find that the percentage of weed smoke was even more than oxygen. When most of us were kids, our parents cultivated a number of lies in our brains about the effects of Marijuana.

They warned us that we should never smoke weed because we would become insane. We would walk around naked they said. We would be institutionalized they said. As we grew up, many of us defied this warning and luckily, nothing bad happened to us. We didn’t turn to zombies.

I have never smoked myself but I know hundreds of people who rely on it the way a trailer relies on diesel. There are people who can’t function without marijuana. Most of this people happen to be Campus Students. So why is this? Why are campus students so addicted to bangi? Well here are the reasons

As a coping mechanism

Campus students endure a lot of life pressures. Many students use weed as a means of coping with certain pressures in their lives such as exams, relationships etc. They also use it as way of relieving boredom, frustration, anxiety or anger and as a means of escapism.

It’s tough when you only have 20 bob in your pocket and you have to study for an Econometrics exam that’s scheduled for the next morning. Such are the difficulties campus students endure and weed becomes the definite savior.

Myths

False myths about weed have been there for years. Some say you’ll be able to study for longer periods if you blaze a stick or two. You’ll grasp each detail that boring lecturer coughs out. Some say you’ll have more confidence with women. Some say you’ll last longer in bed than a porn star. Some even say your hustle mode will be activated and you’ll go out there and make more mulla. All these myths combined make the use of weed seem so appealing.

Peer pressure

Peer pressure is the top match maker between campo students and weed. The initiation process mostly occurs during house parties. When you attend your first party as a campus student, it’s a guarantee that you’ll be talked into inhaling a puff. Campo students experiment with drugs in order to fit in with their peer group or because it is seen as a cool and daring thing to do.

In campus, part of being a group means wearing the right clothes, having similar hairstyles and liking the same music. Another aspect is daring someone to do something which may be dangerous or different in order to be part of the group.

If the group smokes bangi or uses other drugs then part of being that group means doing the same. There can be pressure to do so and many young people will try drugs rather than be excluded from the group.

This is a stage where they have a strong desire to belong and not stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Rebellion

Marijuana is often used as a form of rebellion against authority. Knowing that your parents, lecturers or other authority figures disapprove of this makes it even more attractive. You feel proud doing a crime that you are not likely to get caught for

This is not new: campus students have been rebelling against authority over several decades and using drugs such as marijuana is one way of doing so.

This is a time when they are testing boundaries; exploring their identities and trying to assert themselves in a variety of ways. It is a time of raging hormones and other changes which can be confusing and difficult to deal with.

The Kenyan campus student is on the cusp of childhood and adulthood and is trying to adapt to the challenges that brings. Using marijuana is one way of coping with that.

Ease of access

In campuses, there are weed dealers everywhere, even mini-cartels. You just have to know them since they don’t sell it out in the open like Sukuma wiki.For as little as 50 bob, one gets their fix. The availability of weed makes it popular among campus students. Ease of access goes hand in hand with popularity