According to a more recent version of the National Alcohol and Drug Survey, carried out by the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), approximately one in five Brazilians has had contact with an illicit substance at least once in their lives.
The study highlights differences between genders: 23.9% of men reported having used drugs, while among women this rate was 13.9%. However, among minors, the number of girls who tried illicit substances exceeded that of boys, reversing the pattern observed among adults.
The research also reveals that 8.1% of the population, equivalent to more than 13 million people, used drugs in the period up to one year before the survey was carried out.
Among adults, there was a significant growth in consumption over time: the rate from 6.3% in 2012 to 15.8% in 2023. This increase was even more pronounced among women, a group in which the rate tripled, rising from 3% to 10.6% in the same period.
