•One in every 1,000 were currently using prescription drugs while 193,430 were found to be using cannabis.
•The report further shows one in every 26 youth within the same age bracket were using multiple drugs which represents 267,454 youth.
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The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has blamed the initiation of children into drug and substance abuse on online sales among other factors.
Nacada CEO Victor Okioma on Friday said the online sale has made the issue complicated as minors are now ordering alcohol and drugs in total contravention of the age limit.
This is after the latest report by NACADA showed that children as young as six years are now being initiated into the vice.
"The problem of online sale of alcohol and drugs is complicating the matter. If a 10 or 15-year-old sits in Uhuru Park and orders and is delivered by a motorbike how do you control that, it is very difficult," Okioma said.
The law stipulates alcohol should not be sold to individuals who have not attained the age of 18 years.
The authority has further identified poor parenting and peer pressure as other driving factors.
Okioma said some parents have disengaged from their children while schools on the other hand lack awareness programmes of the dangers associated with drugs and substance abuse.
"When you are drinking your beer home and you are glorifying that bottle and your six-year-old is seeing that they think if my father or mother is using that, then it is okay," Nacada board chair Khama Rogo said.
The report shows the age of initiation for tobacco use was six years, seven years for alcohol, eight years for cannabis, nine years for khat and eight years for prescription drugs.
"Data shows that the average age for initiation of tobacco, alcohol, khat, prescription drugs, cocaine and heroin was 16 to 20 years," the report says.
The minimum age for initiation for heroin and cocaine is 18 and 20 years respectively.
From the report, one in every 11 youth aged 15 to 24 years translating to 632,846 youth were currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse.
One in every 20 or 367,606 are currently using alcohol, one in 31 translating to 230,130 are using tobacco while one in every 28 or 259,954 youth currently using khat.
The report further shows one in every 26 youth within the same age bracket were using multiple drugs which represents 267,454 youth.
One in every 1,000 were currently using prescription drugs which amounts to 8,328 youth while 193,430 were found to be using cannabis.
"Results showed that the prevalence of cannabis use almost doubled over the last five years," the report says.
"The growing demand for cannabis especially among the youth could be attributed to the low perception of harm due to myths, misinformation and misconception," the report says.