About the author

I was born in 1946, of a Scottish father and a Brazilian mother. Part of my education took place in Brazil and part in Britain. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Sussex (1968) and a Masters degree in Sociology of Latin America at the University of Essex (1971). After moving back to Brazil in 1972, I finally received my doctorate in Social Anthropology at the University of Sao Paulo (1986). I then began doing research on different aspects of drug use and was researcher at the Escola Paulista de Medicina in Sao Paulo. In 1994 I moved to Salvador, in the State of Bahia, where I continue to study cultural aspects of drug use and to teach anthropology at the Federal University of Bahia.
I have been member of different official Brazilian government commissions set up to study drug use in Brazil and am, at the moment, taking part in board of experts set up by the President encharged with the elaboration of the official Brazilian drug policy. I have published books and scientific articles on urban social movements, sexuality, drug use and AIDS prevention, some of which have been translated into English, French and Spanish.