Families in vulnerable territory and reasons for not using drugs

This study aimed to understand the reasons for the non-use of drugs by members of families exposed to risk factors for use, for living in a territory with high drug circulation. This is a descriptive, qualitative study, using the Hidden Population reference to access the vulnerable and inaccessible populationand the Respondent Driven Sampling to reach the "hidden" population. The reference chain consisted of 90 families and we processed their responses by thematic content analysis, resulting in three themes: family interaction, religiosity and intrinsic factors and reasons for non-use of drugs; networks of support and interaction influencing the non-use of drugs; and occupational and educational factors and the distance from the daily life of drugs. Even in a neighborhood permeated by trafficking and violence, we identified protective factors and families whose members had never used drugs.