Curiosity, pleasure, transgression: pillars of the motivation to consume crack/ Curiosidade, prazer e transgressao: pilares motivadores do consumo de crack/ Curiosidad, placer y transgresion: los pilares motivadores del consumo de crack

This qualitative, descriptive study described the motivations that led users to try crack, and analyzed the psychosocial effects of the behavior pursued to maintain consumption. The interviewees were ten crack addicts, nine male and one female, at an alcohol and drug psychosocial care center (Centro de Atencao Psicossocial Alcool e Drogas, CAPS AD) in Duque de Caxias municipality, in the Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro State, in 2011. The results showed that curiosity and pleasure were decisive in their starting to use crack. User behavior was characterized by transgressions reported in various forms of violence and the sale of the body as a source of income to support drug use. It was concluded that crack abuse can be a device for transforming a life marked by failure, discrimination and lack of prospects into a constant search for pleasure.