A large epidemiological survey reached the same conclusion, an intrinsic relationship between homicides and crack, with drug trafficking as the motivator of deaths. The relationship between drug trafficking and increased homicide rates has also been documented by studies.
Present
The history of crack use has undergone considerable changes in the last twenty years and has become a serious and perennial reality that needs specific solutions with similar durability.
In the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in crack consumption in Brazil and worldwide, becoming a public health problem.
- A phenomenon, due to the individual and social impact that causes, numerous studies correlate the use of this drug to the increase of violence and crime.
- Treating crack is difficult and has challenged experts, but some interventions have shown promising results.
The profile of its young, unemployed, low-educated, low-income consumers from broken-down families with a history of multiple drug use and risky sexual behavior is no longer unique. The use of crack has been beginning at increasingly early ages, spreading across the country and all social classes, easily accessible and almost always preceded by alcohol consumption. The use of drug rehabilitation happens to be essential in that case.
In view of this, public policies should prevent drug use in these populations, with crack treatment aimed primarily at effective programs for the prevention of legal drug use and attention to drug geopolitics.
Thus, there is a need for care models that can reduce the social cost of drugs and consider their biological and psychosocial nature. Other difficulties encountered by cocaine and crack users in seeking and adhering to crack treatment are non-recognition of drug use as a problem, illegal status and crime related to these drugs, stigmatization and prejudice, lack of access or non-acceptance of existing types of crack treatment and services.
The Use of Crack
Crack is a drug that causes addiction very quickly. For the user to recover, help must come at the same speed. The first step is to seek expert help and start treatment for crack. In Brazil there are institutions that provide care to both the family and the dependent.
There are several approaches for those who want to recover from crack addiction. There is no single crack treatment that is appropriate for all cases. There is a consensus that addiction requires difficult and complex crack treatment because it is a chronic and serious disease that should be followed up for a long time. Techniques and systems can be combined as needed, according to the type of environment, intervention, and service best suited to each patient’s problem or need. Searching for the type that best fits each case contributes to the success in recovery and the return to a productive life in family, work and society.
There is a need to diversify treatment and treatment options for crack by setting up outpatient and outpatient facilities, such as assisted living and day and night hospitals for crack treatment. In addition, the existing network needs to be better integrated, including better networking between the public network and self-help groups and therapeutic communities that can modernize and adapt to the National Health Surveillance Agency minimum standards.
Last Words
Such crack treatment actions are apparently simple, inexpensive, proven effective and could positively change the public health landscape related to crack in the coming years. Like other chronic diseases, addicts need long-term crack treatment and follow-up.