Is There an Epidemic of Drug Misuse in Brazil? A Review of the Epidemiologic Evidence (1977–1988)

Abstract

A critical review is presented of methods and findings of epidemiological studies on drug use carried out in Brazil. Studies of the first phase (1977-1986) suffered from serious flaws but tended to produce inflated rates, as compared to studies conducted after 1987, which used better case definition criteria and sampling strategies. Prevalence of consumption of legal substances was comparable to industrialized countries but lifetime use of illicit drugs in the country tended to be much lower. In conclusion, there is no support from epidemiologic studies for the hypothesis of an epidemic of drug addiction in Brazil nowadays.