The number of people being treated for problems related to cocaine use has increased.
The Association Proyecto Hombre has presented today the 2020 Report of the Proyecto Hombre Observatory –funded by the National Plan on Drugs-, which discloses relevant data on the general and specific profile, by gender and substance of consumption, of people treated during the past year, as well as trends since 2013.
One of the main findings is that the number of people who come to Proyecto Hombre for help and treatment for cocaine addiction problems continues to rise. In this sense, in 2020 the main reference substance is cocaine for 39.1% of the patients, followed by alcohol in 36.1% of cases. This data confirms the trend observed in previous years of the increase in the prevalence of cocaine as the main substance generating demand for treatment in our centers.
In 2020, 39.1% of the revenues in Proyecto Hombre were due to this substance, followed by alcohol with 36.1%.
However, alcohol continues to be a substance that generates a large number of treatment demands, and along with cocaine, they account for 3 out of 4 admissions (75.2%). This applies to both women and men; although, among women alcohol has the highest prevalence, while among men it corresponds to cocaine.
«The normalization of consumption and the invisibility of addictions in society can be determining factors for this data to continue to rise,» says Elena Presencio, general director of Association Proyecto Hombre. For this reason, today, the organization has launched the campaign #CombateLoInvisible to show that addictions matter less and less and go unnoticed in society.
The percentage of women in treatment has increased slightly, although they continue to find it more difficult to access it and only represent 16.5% of the total
Profile of the person with addiction in treatment
The people with addiction treated at Proyecto Hombre respond to a profile that hardly varies year after year: male, about 38 years of age, with employment and stable socio-family life. While although women in treatment only account for 16.5% of the total, this figure has risen slightly in 2020 compared to the previous year (16.1%).
The reason why only 16.5% of women go to treatment is mainly due to a greater social stigma about women who use alcohol and/or other drugs, and to the fact that they have more family burdens (children in charge).
About the source of income, since 2013 there has been an increase in employment and, at the same time, a decrease in dependence on colleagues and family. However, this trend in terms of employment has suffered a significant setback in 2020, probably due to the situation of general lack of employment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has entailed.
As for the earliest consumption occurs in alcohol in any dose, at 16.1 years, and in cannabis, at 16.8 years. The latest consumption occurs in benzodiazepines (26.5 years) and methadone (28.5 years). By sex there are no relevant differences, although women tend to start regular or problematic consumption later than men and especially in alcohol in large quantities (four years later).
«We have normalized both consumption and addicctions that have ended up being part of our landscape», says Elena Presencio, director of Association Proyecto Hombre
2020, a year marked by Covid-19
During the pandemic, Proyecto Hombre centers have continued to give care to people with addiction problems. Demands for help have remained stable overall and, most importantly, adherence to treatment as well. «What we should now be concerned about is the future of these people, if they are already vulnerable now, they are even more so in times of crisis like these,» says Jesús Mullor, director of the Observatory.
During the worst part of the pandemic, confinement, Proyecto Hombre served more than 6,000 people from the Proyecto Hombre Centers; more than 700 continued their recovery in residential resources. More than 4,500 families, a pillar in the recovery, also continued to be accompanied digitally. And this was possible thanks to the commitment of 310 working people who continued in person, supported by another 600 who did it digitally.
Consult the studies and reports of the Asociación Proyecto Hombre.