Illicit drugs in Brazil: environmental consequences and consumption patterns

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on the consumption, street drug analysis, distribution, and main environmental impacts of illicit drugs in Brazil and analyzes the III National Survey on Drug Use by the Brazilian Population. The literature review is based on articles published in national and international journals between 2018 and 2023. This review consists of two analyses, the first of which addresses publications from the last 6 years on the monitoring of illicit drugs in Brazil and a second analysis based on the III National Survey on Drug Use that addresses the different possibilities of contact with drugs. The results revealed that the Southeast region of Brazil has the highest number of studies on the subject, especially in the state of São Paulo, while the North and Northeast regions have the lowest number of studies. The Midwest regions only have studies in the federal capital city, Brasília, while no studies were found in states bordering countries that produce illicit drugs, such as Paraguay and Bolivia. Analytical methods that use the concept of miniaturization, green chemistry, and the adoption of acceptance methods are frequent in most articles. Chemometric and statistical tools are widely used for the analysis, development, and conclusion of identification and quantification methods. Among the articles studied, there was a predominance in the analysis of cocaine metabolites and cannabis metabolites in the aquatic environment, where their concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 2000 ng L^-1. Studies also reported bioaccumulation in marine biota with concentrations of up to 4.58 µg kg^-1 for mussels and sediments, posing a risk to algae, crustaceans, and fish. Furthermore, the data show that the consumption of illicit drugs is increasing in Brazil, especially among young people.

Keywords: Aquatic environment; Drug trafficking; Illicit substances; Public politics; Wastewater-based epidemiology; Water contamination.