What is your perception of a drug user?
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What is your perception of a drug user?
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INTRODUCTION
Drugs use is a universal and millenary practice among humans. It is presented in different peoples and diverse historical contexts. Drugs have always been part of humanity, whether for religious rituals, leisure or to gain readiness and energy like in ancient times, for cure or for therapeutic purposes. The link between drugs use and social problem is recent though.
The use of drugs is defined as the consumption of any substance capable of modifying and disorganizing the biological function of living organisms, resulting in physiological or behavioral changes1. For some time, only prohibited substances were considered, ignoring permitted substances like caffeine, alcohol, tobacco and medicines. Although a distinction exists between legal (permitted) and illegal (prohibited) substances, these distinctions vary according to the culture of each people1.
The consumption of legal or illegal psychoactive substances turned into a problem because of the range and expansion of its use, entailing important consequences for public health. According to the United Nations Organization, 0.6% of the world population, that is, about 26 million people, are addicted to illegal drugs. In addition, they kill 200,000 people each year. In South America, Brazil represents the largest market for opioids, with about 600 thousand users, which corresponds to 0.5% of the population between 12 and 65 years of age2. These figures entail a great economic and social impact, which has affected the Unified Health System (SUS) in terms of drugs consumption reduction as well a