Consumption, not decriminalization: How Nigerian drug dealers/users account for cannabis harms

•Cannabis-related harms are relative to consumption practices and users’ ability to manage drug effects.•Discursive construction of cannabis harms in interview accounts served to de-stigmatize cannabis use and users, while disavowing decriminalization.•There is a need to raise awareness on cannabis decriminalization as part of measures to bolster support for policy reforms. Studies have shown that support for cannabis decriminalization and legalization is highest among users, but there is little research on constructions of cannabis decriminalization in the narratives of users who are also dealers. The aim of this study was to explore discursive constructions of cannabis consumption and decriminalization in dealers’/users’ accounts of the drug's harms. A qualitative study was undertaken in which in-depth interviews were conducted with 31 commercially oriented Nigerian men drug dealers who also use drugs. They were recruited through snowball sampling. Data analysis was based on a social constructionist approach to grounded theory, which emphasizes the role of language and discourse in the construction of reality. While harms from cannabis use were recognized, these were constructed as being relative to consumption practices and user's ability to manage drug effects. Accounts used different discourses and rhetorical strategies to deconstruct popular views of cannabis as a dangerous drug, including minimizing harms by juxtaposing them with harms from more potent drugs as well as with benefits from use. Harms were, however, amplified in relation to decriminalization to delegitimize the policy approach due to concerns about potential increase in consumption and harms to inexperienced consumers. Constructions of cannabis-related harms in the participants’ accounts served discursively to delegitimize cannabis decriminalization, without stigmatizing its use and the users. There exists a need to raise awareness on cannabis decriminalization and legalization as part of measures to bolster support for policy reforms among stakeholder groups (e.g., consumers).