By a majority of votes, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) decided on Tuesday (25) to decriminalize the possession of marijuana for personal use. The ruling was concluded after nine years of successive suspensions. The number of judges who voted for and against decriminalization has not yet been officially disclosed.
With the decision, the possession of marijuana remains an illicit behavior, meaning it is still prohibited to smoke the drug in public, but the penalties defined against users will now have an administrative nature, rather than criminal.
The Court has not yet defined the amount of marijuana that should characterize personal use and differentiate users from traffickers. Based on the votes already cast, the measure is expected to be between 25 and 60 grams or six female cannabis plants.
To differentiate users from traffickers, the norm provides for alternative penalties such as community service, warnings about the effects of drugs, and mandatory attendance at educational courses.
The law no longer provides for prison sentences but maintains criminalization. Thus, drug users are still targets of police investigations and legal proceedings aimed at enforcing alternative penalties.
The majority of the ministers decided to uphold the validity of the law but understood that the penalties provided against users do not have a criminal nature.
This is not legalization
During the session, the president of the Supreme Court, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, emphasized that the Court is not deciding on the legalization of marijuana and that consumption remains an illicit conduct.
“At no point are we legalizing or saying that drug consumption is a positive thing. On the contrary, we are only deliberating on the best way to tackle this epidemic that exists in Brazil and that the strategies we have adopted are not working because consumption continues to rise and the power of trafficking does as well,” he stated.
Source: Agência Brasil