“Decriminalizing marijuana is a direct attack on families,” says senator

This Tuesday (22), Senator Magno Malta (PL-ES) said that “decriminalizing marijuana is a direct attack on families who suffer while taking care of an addict”. The publication made on his social networks is a direct criticism of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which is due to resume judgment on the subject on Wednesday (23).

Making clear reference to the controversial way in which the Court has dealt with issues such as drugs and censorship, the senator said it was “at least curious that Brazilian institutions find social networks more dangerous than a drug that is produced and sold by drug trafficking”.

“Decriminalizing marijuana is a direct attack on families who suffer in caring for an addict. They do not assume the responsibility of assisting these people, they just carry out a perverse agenda that has already proved to be very harmful in several countries”, wrote the senator in his profile on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

The topic was discussed again at the STF in June, after an interval of almost eight years. The Court will decide whether the penalties provided for those who possess drugs for personal use, which are already mild, should be considered unconstitutional and cease to apply.

The trial was interrupted in 2015 after requesting a visit from the then Minister Teori Zavascki, who died in January 2017.

Minister Alexandre de Moraes inherited the vacancy left by Zavascki and, in 2019, released the process to be ruled.

Earlier this month of August, Moraes voted in favor of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for personal consumption and the trial was paused after the rapporteur for the matter, Minister Gilmar Mendes, asked for time to reassess the votes presented by colleagues.

In 2015, Gilmar Mendes defended the decriminalization of drug possession for personal use without setting restrictions on the type of substance.

Ministers Luís Roberto Barroso and Edson Fachin voted to release only the possession of marijuana for personal use and maintain the current prohibition rules for other drugs.

unprecedented tolerance

As reported by Gazeta do Povo, the STF and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) have created obstacles to the fight against drug trafficking. A series of recent decisions handed down by the two Courts demonstrate greater tolerance for drug trafficking. Among the decisions are the annulment of various evidence of trafficking crimes and the release of convicted criminals, some of them faction leaders.