Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part C (2025)

Substance abuse is on the rise among young people in both slum and Affluent parts of Chennai. This is a comparative study of the patterns, types, and causes of drug use, and we explore how socio-economic conditions interact with substance abuse. Employing a quantitative approach, data were collected from 80 slum and affluent participants, 40 from slums and 40 from affluent communities using a structured questionnaire. Poverty and peer pressure are the leading triggers for drug use among youth in slums. In contrast, the study finds that recreational use and academic stress dominate in the affluent. It also assesses law enforcement effectiveness and NGO awareness in drug prevention. The findings suggest that although the types of substances differ, the prevalence is high in both contexts. This points out the severity of the study topics and the benefit of community-specific interventions and collaboration between law enforcement and both NGO's to control urban youth drug abuse.