The discourse change in drugs users or addicts care: critical discourse analysis of a federal Act

Abstract

Brazilian drug policies have undergone changes over time, bearing marks for each historical period and experienced sanitary-political interests. Nowadays, an anti-reformist character was perceived in changes concentrated on Law no. 13,840, of June 5, 2019. The aim of this study is to analyze the key elements of a normative document on drugs based on the Critical Discourse Analysis. We analyzed the Law no. 13,840 using Fairclough’s method for three-dimensional analysis and then discussed it with Foucault’s notions of Biopower and Biopolitics. We consider that the emphasis on involuntary hospitalization, therapeutic communities and abstinence opposes the Brazilian psychiatric reform movement. The development of oppressive care practices are hidden by the so-called ideological neutrality and scientific evidence.