MASKS OF POVERTY: CRACK AS A SOCIAL EXCLUSION MECHANISM
The aim of this study was to analyze social representations of drugs and users in the Brazilian legislation on drugs, from the "crack cocaine" and "poverty" markers. The profile of frequent users is characterized by black single men aged approximately 30 years old, with low level of education and unemployed. About 40% of those intensively using crack are homeless and experience extreme social deprivation, even though this condition does not occur as a result of consumption. In this sphere, the stance of the legislation on drugs regarding this matter was analyzed. For such a purpose, a thematic content analysis of the documents that compose the legislation was performed, aiming at investigating how they represent drugs and their users. Results show that, despite the situation of social exclusion of users, the legislation places greater focus on repression. It targets the war on drugs and interdicts their use. In this sense, institutional racism operates as an exclusionary mechanism veiled to poor socioeconomic strata, and crack seems to disguise poverty with a mask that can be rejected publicly.