Substance abuse is a maladaptive use of a drug, resulting in impairment of functioning or distress, as manifested by a failure to perform adequately at home, school or work. In Nigeria, a large number of the population mostly the youth buy drugs without any physician’s prescription. The aim of this study was to explore the perceived factors that lead to substance abuse among the youth in Gawon Nama area of Sokoto, Sokoto state, Nigeria. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was used. Twelve youth between the ages 18 to 30 years who abuse different substances but were not in psychotic state were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling methods. Semi-structured interview guide was used to interview the respondents after obtaining an informed consent from the respondents. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim, the data was analyzed using content analysis. The findings of this study revealed that the most common factors that lead to substances abuse were availability and affordability of these substances. The implications for policy and future research were considered and recommendations were made based on the findings of the study such as the government and non-governmental organizations should provide job opportunities for the youth.