Between the lines, networks and lgbtq+ circuits – an ethnographic approach to the styles and patterns of cocaine use in São Paulo/Brazil

Abstract

This article is the result of long years of ethnographic research in the city of São Paulo with cocaine users in different territories and circuits, especially LGBTQ+ consumers in the central region of the state capital. The research was constructed with direct observations and with the employment of interviewed with 11 "key informants"", who narrates about their own consumption and the users of their networks of friendships, which they knew better in two different moments in 1994 and 2006. It makes a brief critical commentary on the "state of the art" in this field of study, with particular attention to the production of the social sciences. This research seeks to understand the learning about the use of illicit drugs (cocaine), the forms of user control, the rituals and patterns of use, as well as the life trajectories of cocaine users. Finally, it shows the role played by cocaine in different socio-cultural contexts, particularly the use of cocaine in sexual and homoerotic contexts. Este artigo é fruto de longos anos de pesquisas etnográficas na cidade de São Paulo com consumidores de cocaína, em diferentes territórios e circuitos, especialmente consumidores LGBTQ+ da região central da capital paulista. A pesquisa foi construída em observações diretas e entrevistas com 11 " informantes-chave", que narram sobre seu próprio consumo e dos usuários de suas redes de amizades, que