New drug use survey offers a look at substance habits in Brazil

In 2015, a drug decriminalization bill reached the Supreme Court. However, after a meeting with the vehemently anti-drugs President Jair Bolsonaro, Chief Justice Dias Toffoli decided to shelve the program.

Meanwhile, the Senate has approved supplementary law 37, which tightens up drug legislation and develops treatment centers, strengthening programs for voluntary treatment. The bill has yet to be sanctioned by Mr. Bolsonaro. In May, the president approved a decree that establishes abstinence as the only treatment of drug addiction. Moreover, Brazil is one of the only South American countries that doesn’t differentiate drug users from drug traffickers in the eyes of the law. 

While the president goes about strengthening drug legislation, his government censored the Third National Survey on Drug Use by the Brazilian Population, conducted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation—a health organization linked to the Ministry of Health—in partnership with Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), National Cancer Institute (Inca) and Princeton University. The study surveyed 16 million Brazilians aged 12–65 and cost BRL 7 million to produce, becoming the country’s most encompassing study on drug use.

Although the survey had been completed for over a year, the Justice Ministry stopped it from being published on the grounds that researchers had not followed appropriate methods that had been previously approved by both the Justice and Health Ministries. After reaching a deal, the survey was finally published on August 8, revealing Brazil’s complex patterns of drug use. 

The most frequently used drugs in Brazil

Alcohol

It is estimated that 30.1 percent of Brazilians, or 46 million people, consume alcoholic beverages at least once every 30 days. Moreover, 38.4 percent of Brazilians practice binge drinking at least once in the space of a year. According to the study, binge drinking is defined as a man having five or more drinks, and a woman having four or more. 

Drinking is most common among 25–34-year-olds, with 38.2 percent of this population reporting that...