A Focus on Sellers of Alcohol Based Medicinal Beverages (Home- made Beverages) in Uyo, South-South, Nigeria
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Abstract
The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of the sellers’ characteristics and the practices related to the production and sale of these products. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The study
adopted the Grounded theory as the theoretical framework to guide the study. The sample for the study were twenty-two (22) sellers of the home-made medicinal beverages, due to the itinerant nature of the business, the purposive-snowball sampling techniques was
adopted. Data collected were used to analyse some recent trends in drug dependence situation in Nigeria. Among other things, findings suggested that the consumption of the Home-made beverages was reported to be dependent on the clients’ demand rather than
on any standardized diagnosis of clients’ ailment. It also demonstrated the potential dangers in the sale of the medicinal beverages, leading to potential safety concerns, uncontrolled (unregulated) practices amongst others. The ef orts of established government regulatory bodies such as NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) and NAFDAC (National Food Law Administration and Control) seem to focus more on orthodox medicines, to the neglect of the activities of the sellers of Home-made medicinal beverages, this constitutes a significant threat to the health of the citizenry. It was concluded that future researches should focus on better understanding the regulation of these products and exploring potential strategies for improving safety.
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