Drugs and development: exploring nuances based on the accounts of Nigerian retail dealers

Ediomo-Ubong Ekpo Nelson

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The production, distribution, and consumption of drugs has long been seen as a threat to social and economic development. On the other hand, conditions of unemployment and poverty foster expansion of illegal drug markets. In this study, I offer a nuanced view of the drugs/development connection where poverty and unemployment incentivise participation in the illegal drug market as a response to the failure of state-led development. The study is based on 31 in-depth interviews with male retail drug dealers in Nigeria. Findings revealed various ways the participants framed retail drug trade in connection to development. This includes, drug dealing as a pathway to social and economic mobility, drug dealing as way of mitigating youth crime, drug dealing as a response to failed development promises, and drug dealing as a means of capital formation for legitimate investment. The complex relationship between drugs and development revealed in these accounts troubles the narrow emphasis on counter-narcotics that dominate Nigerian drug policies. They indicate a need to view illegal drug trade, especially low-level distribution, as grassroots dissent from exclusionary development. Social policies designed to provide skills and opportunities for legitimate, gainful employment for at-risk youths offer scope for curbing involvement in retail drug trade.

Keywords: drugs; development; drug policy; Nigeria; retail drug market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 pages
Date: 2024-02-26
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 26, February, 2024, 5(3), pp. 47 - 59. ISSN: 2516-7227

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/122169/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:122169

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().