NCJ Number
178988
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 34 Issue: 11 Dated: 1999 Pages: 1527-1548
Date Published
1999
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article contains profiles and drug histories of 294 cocaine users from 15 treatment services in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during 1996-1997.
Abstract
The mean age of subjects was 27 years, and 90 percent were male. More than half had used five different substances apart from cocaine, usually tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, tranquilizers and solvents. The mean age at first cocaine use was 18.9 years, by which time 87 percent had snorted the drug. Thirty-two percent had injected cocaine, 82 percent had smoked crack and 74 percent had had a full route transition. Sixty-three percent used cocaine daily. The median duration of cocaine use was 6.3 years. Acts of acquisitive crime were common and 56 percent had been arrested. While lifetime polydrug use was the norm, the prevalence of heroin and other opiate use was lower than that in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. The prevalence of HIV among Brazilian intravenous cocaine users was between 40 and 60 percent, while that of hepatitis B was between 40 and 75 percent. Brazilian drug-user treatment agencies were somewhat passive in their approach to HIV prevention, waiting until drug users contacted them. These findings highlight the need for more active approaches, such as outreach work. Tables, figure, references