The family in the United Republic of Tanzania has traditionally been a paramount institution invested with important functions of socialization. It provided spiritual guidance, emotional and social support systems, security and education, and defined the moral and ethical system in which the community was intricately bound together. The institution is weakening under the impact of modernization at a pace that far exceeds the pace at which newer institutions are emerging to assume those responsibilities. Drug abuse is becoming an unwelcome guest under those circumstances. It is proposed that active measures should be taken at the community and national policy level to strengthen and employ the family for the purpose of promoting a drug-free lifestyle.