“Now drugs in Libya are much cheaper than food”: A qualitative study on substance use among young Libyans in post-revolution Tripoli, Libya

We found individual, interpersonal, family, and structural-level factors that interplayed to shape the vulnerability of young people to drug use and HIV infection in Tripoli, Libya. Structural factors, including the increased availability and affordability of drugs, provided the frame within which other factors, such as peer influence, insufficient knowledge of substance use, and HIV, operated to increase the vulnerability of young people to drugs and HIV, while religious beliefs and parent-child connectedness acted as protective factors. Multisectoral efforts and studies to quantitatively evaluate the magnitude and distribution of these problems are urgently needed.