Introduction: Substance abuse is a major public health issue globally, affecting the physical and psychosocial well-being of millions directly or indirectly. Nigeria has been listed among the countries with the highest users of harmful drugs in the globe. The objective of this study was to determine a detailed breakdown of the sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the profile of substance users in the De-addiction Unit of a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Methodology: The study population comprised 166 patients admitted into the de-addiction unit of the psychiatry department, where the average length of admission period was 6 weeks. A descriptive cross-sectional approach was adopted in the design of the study. The UNODC Nigerian Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (NENDU) questionnaire was used for data collection via interviews conducted by the researchers and UNODC-trained assistants. The study duration was 3 years (January 2018 to December 2020). Ethical approval was obtained from the health research ethics committee of the AKTH. Data obtained was analyzed using statistical package software for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Result: A little over three-quarters (125) of the respondents were aged 35 years and below. Over half (104) were unemployed. The mean age of onset for substance use was 22 years. The primary substance of abuse among most respondents was Cannabis, and the most common route was via smoking. The main source of the abused substances reported by respondents was street dealers. Few respondents (37) admitted to injectable substance use and much fewer (3) to sharing syringes with other users. Only 19.3% were tested for HIV among the respondents. Conclusion: Findings from this study demonstrate that the majority of in-patient substance abusers were adolescents and young adults (16 - 35 yrs), commencing the habit at an average age of 22 years, unemployed and mainly using Cannabis as the primary drug of abuse obtained in most cases from street dealers.
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