Methamphetamine (Mkpuru-Mmiri) prevalence in Southeastern Nigeria: Exploring peoples' perception of public flogging as a control measure

Abstract

This study investigated the peoples' perception of public flogging as a control measure for methamphetamine (Mkpuru-Mmiri) use among youth in Southeastern Nigeria. The study adopted mixed methods. The questionnaire comprised (12) items administered to a sample size of 1055 through the online mediated platform – Google Forms, while the qualitative data were collected from (12) participants via face-to-face interviews. The quantitative data were processed using SPSS version 20.0 and displayed in descriptive statistics. The hypothesis was tested using the Mann-Whitney U test. The NVivo 10 software was used to analyze the qualitative data thematically. The study revealed that the practice seems to have been accepted as a social control measure for drug misuse in Southeast Nigeria. In addition, the hypotheses stipulate that educational level influenced the acceptability of public flogging as a methamphetamine deterrent with human rights concerns. The study concludes that preventing methamphetamine misuse can be accomplished by creating job opportunities for young people and rehabilitating users.