The study focused on the risk facfors for drug abuse among street youth and its impactsrnon the life of drug abusing women and men street youths. It also tried to asses the typesrnof drug used and associated for drug dependency. This topic was chosen as it is currentlyrna growing phenomenon in Ethiopia and the studies on the area are very limited.rnQualitative methodology was employed to conduct the study. Data was collectedfrom 14rnwomen and 14 men drug abusing youths who lived in the street through in-depthrninterview, focus group discussion and observation. Snowball sampling technique wasrnused to select women and men drug abusing street youth. The street youth were mainlyrncame from the parents who have low educational level and economic status andrndisturbed fclmily.rnFor the street youth, family and peers modeling, disturbed family background, living inrnthe street where drug is available and curiosity for the drug is the major risk factors forrndrug abuse among women and men street youth. Most of the street youth's reasons tornabuse drugs were to forget their disturhed life and to avoid the withdrawal effects of therndrug. The availability of drugs and their Fiends ' drug abusing behavior were also theirrnreason to keep their drug taking behavior.rnThe types of drug mainly used by the street youths was cigarettes, khat, marijuana andrnalcoholic drinks like "tella ", "teje ", and " areke" and also beer and gin. The majorrnchallenges experienced by the street youth as a result of drug abuse were physical,rnpsychological, social and economical problems and physical and sexual abuse. Howeverrnthe finding of this study showed that women are the most vulnerable groups in any effectrnof drug due to their gender. Finally, in line with the above problem, strong lawrnenforcements against drug abuse, media coverage about the issue, training for thernabusers and the whole society were given as recommendations. Building rehabilitationrncenter and psychiatrist treatment was also needed to address the issue.