Avaliação do uso de substâncias psicoativas e determinação do perfil dos estudantes das áreas de saúde, humanas e exatas da Universidade Federal de Alagoas, no âmbito da toxicologia psicossocial

Abstract

The use of drugs and their consequent acute and chronic toxicological damage are topics of worldwide relevance and attention, given the high and growing number of people who use drugs and the impact of this on society. According to SENAD (National Secretariat for Drug Policy), university students comprise an important part of the universe of people who are at risk and vulnerable to drug use, since they have a higher consumption of drugs than other parts of the population in general . A general objective of the study is to determine the profile of students in the health, human and exact areas of the Federal University of Alagoas, in the scope of Psychosocial Toxicology, regarding the use and local standard of use of psychoactive substances. This is a cross-sectional quantitative study carried out at the Federal University of Alagoas, aiming to analyze the use and local pattern of psychoactive substance use and to determine the sample profile of students from the health, human and exact areas of the Federal University of Alagoas, in the scope of Psychosocial Toxicology. The instrument used was the same one used by the National Secretariat for Policy on Drugs (SENAD) for the I National Survey on the Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs among University Students of the 27 Brazilian Capitals. The results indicate that most college students have made or make use of some illicit substance in their lives. Another important fact is that students who have no religion are more likely to use psychoactive substances such as alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. Among the risk behaviors analyzed, those with the highest prevalence were taking a ride with an alcoholic driver, taking a ride with a driver at a time and driving with drunkenness. The gender also influences the type of psychoactive substance, men make significantly greater use compared to marijuana, inhalant and steroid women, while women have a higher intake of tranquilizers. The academic environment should be conducive not only to the acquisition of knowledge, but also to the process of socialization, and for this to occur the institution must provide forms of contact and approximation with the context of university students, thus creating preventive interventions regarding the use of psychoactive substances promoting the reduction of situations of risk or vulnerability of individuals.