Involuntary Admission and Human Rights: the Perception of Drug Users as Protagonists of Speech

Abstract

This article aimed to understand the perception of drug users involuntarily admitted, in a therapeutic clinic in the countryside of Minas Gerais, on the experience of their human rights, focusing on situations of exclusion favored by the evolution of legislation, public policies, and practices of health services for drug users. It is a qualitative research, whose data collection took place through semistructured interviews, participant observation, and documentary analysis having as reference the dialectical approach, in which the researcher, when looking at the individual, interprets their speech considering the surrounding environment and also considering and distinguishing the cultural, emotional, and social nuances of the discourse. The results identified the exclusion of drug users and intramural consolidation of a segregating and repressive character without a commitment to the re-socialization and reintegration of vulnerable people into society. The interviews revealed a lack of perception by drug users of their fundamental rights and guarantees. Furthermore, there was a lack of support in relation to the protagonism of their speech and the absence of possibilities for listening and autonomy. It was also observed the absence of guarantees and fundamental rights, which were sometimes suspended despite a fully consolidated institution. It is concluded that drug users belong to a portion of society that is excluded and weakened by the object of consumption, which ends up mitigating and deconstructing their rights and voice.