Intersectional analysis of cannabis use, stigma and health among marginalized Nigerian women

Odeigah²,

Dumbili

2023

DHS

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the complex interplay between illicit opioids trade and consumption practices and state policies that aim to reduce their misuse. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an exploratory design. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 31 commercially oriented drug dealers in Uyo, Nigeria. The framework approach was used in data analyses, while “friction” provided the interpretive lens. Findings Accounts revealed public concerns over the misuse of tramadol and other opioids among young people and the associated health and social harms. These concerns provided support for enforcement-based approaches to prescription opioids control, including police raids on pharmacy stores. These measures did not curtail opioids supply and consumption. Instead, they constrained access to essential medicines for pain management, encouraged illegal markets and fuelled law enforcement corruption in the form of police complicity in illegal tramadol trade. Research limitations/implications The findings reveal the frictions of drug control in Nigeria, wherein enforcement-based approaches gained traction through public concerns about opioids misuse but also faced resistance due to the persistence of non-medical use and illegal supply channels made possible by law enforcement complicity. These indicate a need to prioritize approaches that seek to reduce illegal supply and misuse of opioids while ensuring availability of these medications for health-care needs. Originality/value The study is unique in its focus on the creative tension that exists between state control measures and local opioids supply and consumption practices.

Section: Participants and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tramadol regulation, illegal markets and consumption practices: exploring frictions of drug control in Nigeria

Odeigah²,

Dumbili

2023

DHS

“…Many make a living from street sex work, which has brought them into the proximity of drug dealing and use (Izugbara, 2007; Nelson, 2020). Women’s substance use has been shown to be woven into multiple and overlapping dynamics of social and economic marginalization, including poverty, homelessness, and criminalization and stigmatization of sex work and drug use, which shape substance use practices (Nelson, 2020, 2021; Nelson & Bridget, 2022).…”

Section: Study Context and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies have contributed to a better understanding of women’s substance use by explicating how structural and environmental factors shape substance use patterns and harms (Bourgois et al, 2004; Bungay et al, 2010; Collins et al, 2018; Epele, 2002; Fairbairn et al, 2008; McNeil et al, 2014; Saleem et al, 2021; Shannon et al, 2008). Studies have shown how initiation of substance use among women is influenced by social networks, which also mediate drug supply (Martin, 2010; Mburu et al, 2019; Meyers et al, 2020; Nelson, 2021). Women consume drugs in response to complex personal needs or problems such as the desire for intimacy, health improvement or for pleasure (Martin, 2010; Nelson, 2021; Payne, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have shown how initiation of substance use among women is influenced by social networks, which also mediate drug supply (Martin, 2010; Mburu et al, 2019; Meyers et al, 2020; Nelson, 2021). Women consume drugs in response to complex personal needs or problems such as the desire for intimacy, health improvement or for pleasure (Martin, 2010; Nelson, 2021; Payne, 2007). Studies have also shown that most substance dependent women have had traumatic experiences, including sexual abuse, inter-personal violence and homelessness (Bungay et al, 2010; Epele, 2002; Gilbert et al, 2001; Haritavorn, 2014; Maher, 1997; Romero-Daza et al, 2003; Shannon et al, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nuancing Drug Harms: Exploring the Context of Substance Use Among Street-Involved Women in Uyo, Nigeria

Contemporary Drug Problems

2022

Recent studies on women’s substance use have emphasized the role of structural and environmental contexts in shaping substance use patterns and harms, but the dynamics constitutive of specific substance use contexts are seldom unpacked. This study works with Cameron Duff’s elaboration of context as an assemblage of space, embodiment and practice to explore the contextual dynamics that mediate substance use practices among socially marginalized women. In-depth interviews were used to gather data from a purposive sample of street-involved women who use drugs ( n = 16) in Uyo, Nigeria. Data revealed that substance use was mediated by actors, social norms and processes within social networks developed in street environments. The women used substances to achieve particular affective states such as pleasure, stress relief and coping with trauma. Social network dynamics combined with the use of drugs to manage trauma and social stress, within a wider context of social and material deprivations, to foster substance use practices that created risk for harm. Drug harms were not inherent to the substance use experience or incidental to benefits and pleasures. Instead, they were unintended, but inevitable, outcomes of the embodied practices of beneficial substance use. On the other hand, corporeal techniques of controlled drug use served to minimize drug harms. Findings indicate a need to address the contextual dynamics that influence harmful patterns of substance use, and to leverage the harm reducing potentials of controlled use practices.

“…An estimated 40.1% of Nigerians (about 82.9 million people) live in poverty (World Bank, 2022). Nelson and Tasha (2021) have shown how retail drug trade serves as a means of income generation for many Nigerian youth in the context of poverty and deprivation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retail Drug Trade, Effects on Neighbourhoods, and Sellers’ Navigational Strategies: Accounts of Nigerian Dealers

Onayemi

2023

Journal of Drug Issues

Self Cite

Studies have examined the negative effects of drug markets on neighbourhoods. But few explore the views of drug sellers. Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with Nigerian retail drug sellers, we explore why they sell drugs, the effects of drug markets on neighbourhoods, and how they navigate social and legal problems. The participants sold drugs as a means of livelihood in the context of poverty and economic decline. Drug market activities were seen as nuisance, and as fostering crime and violence in neighbourhoods. These views stirred opposition from residents and led to police raids on drug scenes. Drug sellers navigated policing and opposition by concealing drug trade, selling covertly and reducing nuisance among other strategies. We argue that retail drug trade is shaped by the imperatives of survival in the context of poverty. Providing alternative means of livelihood for drug sellers offers potential to curb drug selling and related problems.