What topics does this cannabis study cover?

This study covers research on: Endocannabinoid.

Where was this research published?

Published in The International journal on drug policy on June 4, 2026.

Endocannabinoid

Building trust in sensitive cannabis market research

Trustwork: A conceptual framework of trust building and maintenance in field research in illicit drug markets.

The International journal on drug policy • June 4, 2026 • Moderately Relevant

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AI Summary

This research paper examines how researchers build and maintain trust with people involved in illicit cannabis markets, based on fieldwork conducted in Nigeria. Rather than focusing on cannabis itself or its effects, the study is a methodological investigation into the complex social dynamics of conducting sensitive ethnographic research in criminalized drug markets. The authors introduce the concept of "trustwork" — the ongoing negotiation and fulfillment of mutual expectations between researchers and participants — as essential to building meaningful relationships in high-stakes environments where participants face legal risks.

The research reveals that trust develops gradually through relational processes, beginning with initial familiarity and pre-existing trust before evolving into long-term relationships. Importantly, the study demonstrates that trust in drug market research is inherently fragile and requires continuous renegotiation. The building and maintenance of trust depends on shared understanding of the research situation, clear communication about expectations, and navigation of social, affective, material and spatio-temporal forces that shape interactions between researchers and participants.

This work has significance beyond academic methodology—it offers insights into how trust can be established across significant power differentials and legal boundaries in sensitive research contexts. For policymakers and public health professionals working with cannabis users and market participants, understanding these trust-building mechanisms is crucial for effective community engagement, harm reduction efforts, and evidence-based drug policy research.

📄 Original Abstract

While trust has been shown to be important in immersive drug market research, especially when working with hard-to-reach research participants, little in-depth discussion exists on the trust building process and the dynamics that facilitate or hinder this process. In this article, we advance a conceptual framework for understanding the trust building process in fieldwork in illicit drug markets. To develop this framework and demonstrate its utility, we draw on ethnographic and interview-based research with criminalised cannabis market actors (e.g. farmers, transporters, traders) in South-West and South-South Nigeria, which was part of a long-term fieldwork-based research project. Based on extensive fieldnotes produced by this research and especially during four key fieldwork episodes, the article examines how trust relations between researchers and participants are built and maintained and occasionally break down. We show how trust develops gradually and relationally from initial familiarity and 'pre-existing trust' to long-term trust relationships. Trust is based on a shared understanding of the research situation, as well as an ongoing negotiation of the expectations on researchers and participants. As such, trust in drug market research is fragile and needs to be continuously negotiated. Our research underlines the role of 'trustwork', i.e. the ongoing negotiation and fulfilment of mutual expectations, in building and maintaining trust and rapport, especially important for immersive fieldwork in illicit drug markets in Nigeria as elsewhere. Our contribution is to foreground the fragility and negotiability of trust and the complex interplay of social, affective, material and spatio-temporal forces that shape the trust building process.