At least 11.4 million Brazilians have used cocaine or crack
A new survey by the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) estimates that some 11.4 million Brazilians over the age of 14 have used cocaine or crack cocaine at some point in their lives, which represents 6.6 percent of the country’s population. At least 2.2 percent of respondents reported having used the substances in the last 12 months—the equivalent of 3.8 million people.
The results can be found in the third Levantamento Nacional de Álcool e Drogas (“National Survey on Alcohol and Drugs”), funded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The data were collected in 2023 with 16,608 participants from across 300 cities and did not include homeless people.
Compared to the previous survey, carried out in 2012, the authors note a sharp surge in the prevalence of people who have used cocaine or crack cocaine at least once in their lives. At the time, that percentage was 4.43 percent.
As for recent use, in 2012, two percent reported using the substances over the previous 12 months, which indicates stability.
“The stability in recent consumption, coupled with the increase in [consumption at any point], suggests the possibility of a historical increase in the number of people trying the substance without this necessarily translating into a proportional growth in continued use,” an excerpt of the study reads.
The percentages for use at any point in life and use over the last 12 months are higher among males and 25–49-year-olds. With regard to skin color, Asian and indigenous people showed the highest proportions. From a marital point of view, the highest rates are observed among divorced or separated individuals.
Considering education and income, the highest rates are among people with less schooling and those with a monthly household income of up to two minimum wages. The percentage of people who say they have used the drugs at least once in their lives reached 12.77 percent among those with no schooling, and eight percent among those who have not reached high school. Recent use for these groups stood at 1.88 percent and three percent respectively.
“Current use of cocaine and crack cocaine in Brazil does not seem to have worsened in the last 10 years. The discrepancy between the increase in use at any point in life and the stabilization of recent consumption indicates that variations in the contingent of users may have occurred during the long hiatus between the two editions of the study without being detected,” the university said in a statement.
The researchers, however, recommend caution in examining trends. For example, the 11-year interval between the surveys is long enough for important fluctuations to have occurred without being observed.
According to a note from the institution, “any comparison between 2012 and 2023 should be interpreted as a description of specific differences between two distinct moments. It is not possible to safely infer whether these variations correspond to continuous growth, decline, or stabilization.” The university added, however, that “use remains high among vulnerable populations marked by social inequality, exclusion, and low schooling.”
In addition, for the first time, the study incorporated a section on community perception of drug trafficking. “Around half of the Brazilian population [43.8%] say they perceive drug trafficking as frequent (“it happens a lot” and “it happens” counted together) in their neighborhood, especially in the Brazilian Southeast [51.6%] and the North [47.5%] regions, as well as in large urban centers,” the specialists declared.
Cocaine
Considering cocaine use alone, the study estimated that around 9.3 million Brazilians used cocaine at least once in their lives, which represents 5.38 percent of the population. In the previous survey, in 2012, 3.88 percent of Brazilians reported having used cocaine at least once in their lives. The variation is described as significant.
Those who used cocaine in the previous 12 months totaled 1.78 percent in 2023—just over 3 million people. In 2012, this proportion stood at 1.77 percent.
This result may reflect different phenomena, the text says, such as “greater historical dispersal of consumption over the decade, without an increase in the rate of continuity, or the abandonment of the substance by individuals who tried it in the past.”
Of all respondents who had used it in the last 12 months, almost half (43.6%) reported frequent use (more than twice a week). The study points out that this is a pattern associated with a higher risk of acute complications.
Crack cocaine
The survey estimated that 1.39 percent of the Brazilian population over the age of 14 reported having used crack at least once in their lives—approximately 2.32 million people. Use in the previous 12 months was reported by 0.5 percent, around 829 thousand people.
The 2023 estimates are close to those observed in 2012, which suggests stability. In 2012, the proportion of individuals who reported using crack cocaine was 1.44 percent for use at some point in their lives and 0.64 percent for use in the previous 12 months.
Regarding addiction, the study points out that the sample of individuals who reported having used crack cocaine in the previous 12 months was not numerically sufficient to allow “a precise and statistically robust estimate of the prevalence of substance use disorder.”
