How Legal Drugs Affect the Society? Empirical Evidence from Thailand

Abstract

Natnaporn Aeknarajindawat, Nattachai Aeknarajindawat, Damkerng Aswasuntrangkul.

Drugs are defined as a medicine, which adversely affect the physical and mental health of individuals. Nowadays, people can easily get addicted of drugs. Legal drugs, including alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and smoking are commonly used drugs among individuals, which postpones the nervousness, anxiety and social stress from the individuals by providing them a temporary satisfaction. But the extensive use of these drugs has adverse effects on society. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of legal drugs i.e., alcohol, smoking, nicotine, and caffeine on the society. For this purpose, the study gathered the data from 235 respondents through an online survey method. The study applied measurement model for testing the reliability and validity of data. Study used structural equational modeling (SEM) for the empirical estimation of results. Significance of the path coefficients are tested through bootstrapping. Results of the study shows the negative impact of alcohol, smoking, nicotine, and caffeine on the society. The study suggests that government should introduce the health literacy programs for the awareness of adverse effects of legal drugs.