Drug and psychoactive substance abuse among youth portendsan alarming human security conundrum in Nigeria. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of drug and substance abuse among youth on community security in Kano and Sokoto states. The objectives of the study were to:(i) identifythe causes and nature of drug and substance abuse among youth in Kano and Sokoto states; (ii) establish the correlation between drug abuse and its effects on the individual users in Kano and Sokoto states; (iii) examine the effects of drug abuse on community security in Kano and Sokoto states; (iv)make a comparative analysis of the effects of drug abuse on community security in both state; (v) assess the level of community involvement in the control of drug abuse in Kano and Sokotostates; and (vi) appraise counter-drug abuse strategies in the two states.rnQuantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used for the study. A total of 800 Questionnaireswere distributed to respondents in both states. A total of 770questionnaire were retrieved and analyzed using the quantitative method from the tools of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). Key Informant Interview (KII), In-depth Interview (IDI) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were employed to obtain qualitative data. Pilot studies were carried out to determine the reliability of the instruments, through theCronbachâ€™s Alpha Numeric Inter-instrument Consistency Model.rnThe findings of the studywere that:rn(i) the major causes of drug abuse among youth were: self-medication, 74.3% for Kano and 73.6% for Sokoto state; experimentation, 90.2% for Kano and 80.5% for Sokoto state; peer influence, 85.8%for Kano and 69.7% for Sokoto;and indolence, 74.8% for Kano, 39.4% forSokoto state;rn(ii) there was a strong correlation between drug abuse and its effects on individual users in bothKano and Sokotostates, at an average of a=0.05 and P value=0.01