The judges of Brazil’s highest court voted on Tuesday (06/25/2024) in favor of decriminalizing the possession of cannabis for personal use, in a trial that began in 2015 and that keeps Brazilian society divided.
“A majority is formed” to decide “that carrying for personal consumption (of cannabis) constitutes an illicit action without a criminal nature,” summarized the president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Luis Roberto Barroso.
The majority was reached after the favorable vote of Judge José Antonio Dias Toffoli was announced. In the end, eight of a total of 11 STF judges ruled in favor and three against decriminalization. Barroso specified, However, “the prohibition of consumption in public places” is maintained.
Current legislation, which dates back to 2006, punishes anyone who “acquires, stores, transports or carries drugs for personal use without authorization,” including cannabis. Although the penalties are light for consumers – providing community services or participating in an educational program – the law leaves it to the judges’ discretion to determine whether the person carrying it is a user or a trafficker. The latter must face harsh prison sentences.
The judges also debated in this process what quantity of cannabis should be established to differentiate the user from the trafficker. Although the majority of magistrates voted in favor of defining a limit for users, there were differences over the quantities, which range from 25 grams to 60 grams. This decision, according to Barroso, will be announced on June 26.
The trial responds to an appeal presented by the defense of a prisoner convicted of hiding three grams of cannabis in his cell. In 2023, explaining his vote in favor, Judge Alexandre de Moraes had harshly condemned the existing anti-drug law, which enables the punishment especially of “young people, especially uneducated blacks, who are treated as drug traffickers for possessing small quantities”.
Once this process is concluded, all judicial instances must follow the solution adopted by the STF when judging cases on cannabis possession.
However, the issue is very controversial in Brazil, where conservative organizations are fervently opposed to decriminalizing drugs and an initiative contrary to the STF decision is advancing in parallel in Congress.
The Senate, with a conservative majority, approved in April 2024 a project that introduces the crime of drug possession into the Constitution regardless of the quantity. The amendment must now go to debate in the Chamber of Deputies.
