Financial Condition as Driver of Drug Addiction: A Comparative Analysis to Other Recognized Factors

Abstract

Drug addiction is a major concern in many countries which has been prevailing over the decades with a meteoric growth every year. Over years of researches, many key contributing factors have been identified, such as, parental influences, peers influences, psychological factors etc. This study investigates the role of financial condition behind drug addiction and explores if it plays most critical role compared to the other recognized determinants like parental awareness, peer influence, depression etc. with a particular focus on family dynamics. Data were collected from 45 drug-addicted individuals from rehabilitation centers in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The findings reveal that financial stability or instability is not a primary determinant of drug addiction, though affluent economic status often facilitates easier access to drugs resulting in earlier exposure than other economic classes. The results show that though most of the participants (both from wealthy and non-wealthy backgrounds) had a good past life with a good dynamic with family and parents, but a notable gap of parental awareness and supervision was prevalent. Peers influence emerged as the major catalyst in drug exposure, and those with larger social circle tend to use drug at an early age. Depression and trauma played an influential role but depression out of financial stress turns out to be an important but less frequent factor compared to other push factors like romantic relationships, stressed relationship with family and parents etc. that heightened the risk of exposure. This study underscores the necessary and effective interventions, such as enhancing parental supervision and awareness, strengthening family bonding, and institutional initiatives to prevent exposure. Future research should focus on a larger and more diverse sample, especially incorporating the lower-income individuals who lack access to rehabilitation centers to develop more comprehensive and well-rounded policy recommendations.

Keywords: financial condition, drug addiction, financial stress, family, income, depression, mental health, Sylhet, Bangladesh