Drug abuse among workers in Brazilian regions.
OBJECTIVE
Many business organizations in Brazil have adopted drug testing programs in the workplace since 1992. Rehabilitation, rather than layoff and disciplinary measures, has been offered as part of the Brazilian employee assistance programs. The purpose study is to profile drug abuse among company workers of different Brazilian geographical regions.


METHODS
Urine samples of 12,700 workers from five geographical regions were tested for the most common illicit drugs of abuse in the country: marijuana, cocaine, and amphetamine. Enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were the techniques utilized for urine testing. The distribution of collected urine samples according to geographical regions was: 72.0% southeast, 13.8% northeast, 7.9% south, 5.7% central west and 0.6% north.


RESULTS
Of all samples analyzed, 1.8% was found to be positive for drugs: 0.5% from the south region, 1.1% from northeast, 1.2% from central west, 1.3% from north, and 2.2% from southeast. Of these, 59.9% was marijuana, 17.7% cocaine, 14.6% amphetamine, and 7.7% associated drugs.


CONCLUSIONS
The distribution of drugs found in the samples shows a regional variation. Marijuana, however, was found in all regions. Cocaine was seen only in central west and southeast regions. Amphetamine was found in northeast, central west, and southeast regions.
Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Ovandir Alves
OA
Silva
Mauricio
M
Yonamine
D000328:Adult; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine; D003710:Demography; D017248:Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine