O PERFIL MASCULINO DO USUÁRIO DE DROGAS EM SITUAÇÃO DE RUA: DISCUSSÃO E PERSPECTIVA NO CONTEXTO DE GOIÁS

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the current profile of male street drug users in Goiás and to project future changes in light of new social behaviors and regional roots. To this end, it adopts an anthropological perspective based on the observation that men occupy the extremes of the social pyramid while being shaped by the cultural subjectivities of the environments in which they are embedded. The research focuses on three main areas: the historical-institutional context of the homeless population in Brazil and Goiás; the landscape of legal and illicit drug use; and the relationship between male vulnerability, structural unemployment, precarious work conditions, and the sociocultural construction of masculinity that hinders the search for help. Methodology: This is a qualitative, narrative-based literature review, supplemented by a documentary analysis of official sources (LENAD III, PENSE, CISA, IMB, CNMP) and theoretical foundations drawn from authors such as Darcy Ribeiro, Foucault, Badinter, and Antunes. Results: The findings indicate that the predominant profile in Goiás is that of an adult male with low educational attainment who is unemployed, with alcohol being the substance with the greatest health impact and crack serving as the extreme marker of exclusion. The Midwest region exhibits high consumption of alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, and crack, influenced by cultural traditions and drug trafficking routes. It is concluded that male homelessness does not result from individual choices, but from overlapping structural vulnerabilities. The prognosis points to polarization: while higher-income youth adopt recreational patterns, men weakened by unemployment and hegemonic masculinity will remain marginalized, requiring public policies sensitive to gender- and territory-specific issues.