<![CDATA[This study analyzes adolescent drug abuse in Limboto Subdistrict, Gorontalo Regency, by treating substance use as a social practice shaped through family relations, peer groups, psychological stress, environmental opportunity, and religious and community resources. A qualitative case-study design with a sociological orientation was employed. Data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation involving people with drug-use experiences and law-enforcement personnel; some adult participants retrospectively described initiation that occurred during adolescence. The findings show that methamphetamine is the most salient substance in participants' accounts, with initiation strongly linked to peers, use as a coping strategy for stress, and signs of dependence such as an urge to reuse the substance when its effects subside. Family dynamics, peer environments, limited access to positive activities, economic pressure, and weak social control operate in overlapping ways rather than as isolated causes. The article extends a structural-functional reading through social ecological and social learning perspectives and a sociology-of-religion lens, showing that families, schools, peer groups, religious communities, and law enforcement can function as both risk and protective environments. Religiosity is approached not as a single moral explanation but as a potential source of meaning, support networks, and social control whose effects depend on family and community relations. The study concludes that prevention requires integrated family- and peer-based strategies, accessible positive youth activities, non-stigmatizing health and rehabilitation services, supportive religious engagement, and law enforcement focused on disrupting drug-supply networks.]]>
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