There are differences in the synthetic substances consumed on the various Azorean islands. On Terceira, the “focus of concern” is methamphetamines, points out the opinion “Synthetic Drugs in the Azores – Profiles of consumers, reports of action in the various fields and prospects for mitigation,” drawn up by the Permanent Specialized Commission for Social Sectors of the Economic and Social Council of the Azores (CESA).
The document, approved yesterday at a CESA meeting held in São Miguel, specifies that in Terceira, the consumption of “crystal-meth” stands out, produced “locally from pills sold in pharmacies without a prescription.” In São Miguel, it’s “synthetic cathinones, to which consumers are loyal”.
The regional directorate for Preventing and Combating Addictions is also concerned about the beginning of fentanyl consumption on the island of São Miguel, it is stressed. The focus on Faial is on synthetic cannabinoids, which “came on strong this year, with a toxic level far above cannabis.” No information was provided on other islands in the archipelago.
On December 7, the CESA committee held a meeting on synthetic drugs, which included invited experts, field workers, and representatives of various regional authorities.
The meeting resulted in the document that DI (Diário Insular newspaper) has now had access to, which points out that the region “stood out for being, in 2017, where consumption was by far the highest in the country” in the new psychoactive substances (NSP) field.
“Over the course of a lifetime, the national average was 0.3%, while in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (RAA) it was 3.7% and also 3.6% in the last year and 0.7% in the last month. However, in 2022, this survey did not record NSP consumption in the ARA. It is possible that this disappearance has to do with the fact that many consumers are in prisons, in the homeless population or in populations undergoing treatment in institutions,” says the opinion.
The profile of consumers of these substances in general is outlined. “They tend to be concentrated in the city of Ponta Delgada, both because it is on the island of S. Miguel that there are a greater number of cases and because it is in this city that most of the support services for this type of case are concentrated.” They are, from the outset, in vulnerable situations.
“A large majority of men with low or very low levels of education, with a history of working in construction in very unskilled and precarious jobs,” the document continues: “The vast majority have mental illness problems, either before consumption, or having arisen concomitantly with consumption, or even caused by consumption,” and “some belong to families where consumption recurs in different generations.”
A study by psychiatrist Mendes Coelho, from Ponta Delgada Hospital, presented at the 2023 National Congress of Psychiatry, revealed that a third of suicide deaths in the Azores in 2021 were of synthetic drug users.

in Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)