Abstract
Objective: To verify the use of psychoactive substances (SPAs) among university students of a Higher Education Center. Methods: We chose a quantitative, epidemiological cross-sectional study. Data collection was done through a semi-structured questionnaire made available in Google Forms; Quantitative data analysis was done by means of a simple descriptive analysis. A total of 357 undergraduates from nursing, food engineering, chemical engineering and zootechnics courses participated in the study. Results: These indicated that the consumption of psychoactive substances by this segment of population is greater, when compared to the general population; alcohol appeared to be the most consumed by both the number of people and the courses studied and by the frequency in the last three months followed by tobacco and marijuana. The largest number of consumers is between the ages of 18 and 24. As for the age at which they tried some of the substances for the first time, it occurred between the ages of 12 and 17. Conclusion: The data showed a significant consumption of psychoactive substances, especially for use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. The results also indicated a varied use of other drugs, emphasizing a tendency to experiment, due to curiosity typical of age and / or social group.