A política de enfrentamento como produtora de dano: a epidemia de crack no contexto da saúde pública contemporânea

Abstract

The essay presents the results of a research done through the years of 2012 to 2014, in the city of Natal - Rio Grande do Norte, located in Northeastern Brazil, region with the greatest number of crack users in the country, with the goal of investigating how the discourse of crack epidemic was capable of mobilizing the elaboration of public policies in health in order to reduce the damage caused by abusive crack use and of the associated situations of vulnerability. The intent of this research is to contribute with the debate that has been made evident, in which the option for characterize the drug situation as a health, not public security, question has been established as the hegemonic discourse in the fight against crack. The methodology initially came from a systematic analysis of journalistic articles published in the newspaper Tribuna do Norte between the years of 2010 and 2014, used data from the research “Perfil dos Usuários de Crack e/ou Similares no Brasil” (Profile of users of crack and/or similars in Brazil.), as well as the implementation of semi-structured interviews with agents of the plan “Crack é Possível vencer” (Crack, it is possible to win) and of agents of the program “Consultório de Rua” (Street Clinic). It was concluded that the discourse of an epidemic, far from having any relationship with the epidemiologic determinants of public health, is characterized through the social construction of moral panic and social hysteria led fundamentally by the media and by public power, and legitimised by the dominant medical knowledge. In the implementation of the plan “Crack, é possível Vencer” it was concluded that, far from aiding the users in vulnerable situations through access to the health network and social assistance, it intensified the process of an administration of exception through increased repression in the sites of crack consump