Towards Noncustodial Harm Reduction in Substance Abuse Amongst Youths: The Need to Incorporate Social Marketing Interventions into the Nigerian Legal Framework

Abstract

The overly reliance on getting ‘tough on drugs policy’ by the Nigerian government is counterproductive, as the problem is still on the increase. This has called for explicit and formal incorporation of social marketing strategies into our legal framework for better outcomes in the ‘war on drugs’. Theory deconstruction (i.e. integrated model approach) was adopted to underpin the perspectives raised on the utility of social marketing as a noncustodial drug-use prevention and control mechanism. Findings revealed that the programme discourages drug-use behaviours through media education, counselling, and advertorial sea change in decision-making processes and drives. Both potential and actual users are sensitised to the dangers of drugs and how to desist (for users) and resist (for potential users) the temptation and contemplation to experiment with drugs. The issues raised suggested policy direction which orientated the conclusion, policy implications and suggestions for further studies. Commonly abused by the youth population, alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and new/emerging local psychoactive substances, were found to be effectively curtailed using this approach. The promise of social marketing in combating youth drug culture is phenomenal and yet the framework is only tangentially discussed and referenced in most drug discourses. There is urgent need and necessity to incorporate the idea into our educational curricula and national drug plans. It is also suggested that additional studies be conducted on the subject matter using a more sophisticated scientific tools to further measure the strengths of social marketing variables in combating illicit substance use.

Keywords

• Harm reduction
• Legal framework
• Noncustodial
• Social marketing
• Substance abuse