Introduction

The consumption of psychoactive drugs is increasing, precocious and abusive, causing chemical dependence. This dependence requires treatment and control. One of the places available in Brazil for this host is the therapeutic community service.

Objective

to identify the profile of psychoactive drug users residing in therapeutic communities.

Methods

cross-sectional, quantitative descriptive study with drug users from three therapeutic communities, located in the interior of the Central-West region of Brazil. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire was used, whose responses were analyzed and analyzed in the BioEstat version 5.0 program, after ethical approval by the University of Sao Paulo, under opinion 2,487,000.

Results

21 men, young adults, single, low schooling, unemployed and with religion participated. The use of drugs was precocious, through alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, used by friends and curiosity. There was a history of multiple admissions to treat chemical dependence, with the therapeutic community being the most sought after service. Family conflict, loss of reemployment, and problems with mental health, as well as the way in which the user considers the treatment received and the willingness to use drugs during treatment have been strongly associated with drug use.

Conclusion

Knowing the profile of drug users can subsidize health actions aimed at meeting the integral demands of users, contributing to the elaboration of public policies and rehabilitation strategies that contribute to adherence to treatment.

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