Mendonça seeks judgment on decriminalization of marijuana possession

The minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) André Mendonça asked for a view of the process that could decriminalize the possession of marijuana for personal use in Brazil. He was the first to disagree with the rapporteur, Minister Gilmar Mendes, when the score was 4 votes to zero in favor of decriminalization.

With the request for a view, the trial is paralyzed so that the minister has more time to analyze the case. According to the internal regulations of the Court, he will have up to 90 days to analyze the records. After this period, the process returns to the trial agenda.

Before Mendonça’s vote, Cristiano Zanin voted against the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use. “The mere decriminalization of possession of drugs for consumption, in my view, presents legal problems and can even aggravate the situation we face in this problem of the fight against drugs. The decriminalization, even if partial of drugs, could contribute even more to the worsening of this health problem”, he added”, said Zanin.

“From the data I have, I note that the countries that opted for the decriminalization of drug use have enacted specific laws to jointly discipline the way in which such substances are acquired”, he added. Zanin defended that the legislation questioned in the case is the only one to contain “relatively objective parameters to differentiate, at present, the situation of the user from the dealer”.

Even with the request for review, Minister Rosa Weber, who was conducting the session, decided to anticipate her vote, in the sense of pro-decriminalization. She reported that she was inclined to follow Gilmar Mendes’ initial vote, which extended decriminalization to other drugs, but that he thought it appropriate to restrict it to marijuana only.

Rosa Weber also asked ministers Nunes Marques and Luiz Fux to anticipate their votes even with the request for review already requested – so, if one of the ministers accompanied the rapporteur, it would already be possible to form a pro-decriminalization majority even with the request for review.

The Court resumed the judgment in question this Thursday (24). With Rosa Weber’s advance vote, the score is 5 votes in favor of release and one against. At the beginning of the session, Gilmar Mendes, the rapporteur, adjusted his vote to follow the understanding of ministers Luís Roberto Barroso, Edson Fachin and Alexandre de Moraes, who had already voted for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use only.

If decriminalization is confirmed, the STF will go against medical entities, which have pointed to serious risks

Last Thursday (17), the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) and the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry (ABP) demonstrated their opposition to the decriminalization of marijuana in Brazil. The entities maintained that the decriminalization of marijuana would result in increased consumption and damage to both individual and public health, in addition to strengthening drug trafficking activities. Both institutions pointed out considerable risks associated with drug consumption, even under “medicinal” pretext.

According to the entities, marijuana “causes a very serious addiction, with very important physical and mental damage, including precipitating psychotic conditions (some non-reversible) or aggravating symptoms and the evolution of sufferers of mental comorbidities of any nature, making their treatment difficult, leading to damage to all life”.

The CFM and the ABP also highlighted that there are no historical precedents or scientific evidence to support the benefits of legalizing illicit substances. “On the contrary, it is in countries with greater rigor in the fight against drugs that there is a decrease in the number of cases of chemical dependency and violence related to the consumption and trafficking of these substances”, they declared.

Therapeutic communities that treat chemical dependents also spoke to the STF against the measure. In June, a group of 11 of these entities sent to the Supreme Court a series of recent studies, linked to research centers in various parts of the world, showing adverse effects of decriminalization policies adopted in other countries.

Opposition parliamentarians took a stand against decriminalization

In recent days, right-wing deputies and senators, who are in opposition to the Lula government, have positioned themselves against the imminent decision of the Supreme Court for the decriminalization of drugs. In a press conference this Wednesday afternoon, parliamentarians from the conservative bench criticized the “hasty” way in which the STF would be conducting an issue that should be debated and voted on in the National Congress.

A People’s Gazette, Federal Deputy Osmar Terra (MDB-RS) considered the STF’s attempt to decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal use to be “very serious”. “It is an issue that affects the population so much on such a gigantic scale, causing loss of life and destruction of families. People who have nothing to do with the drug die as a result of users. Are we going to legalize this?”, he said. “The boca de fumo does not sell wholesale, it sells retail in small quantities, so it won’t arrest anyone else. So it is very serious ”, he added.

On Tuesday (22), Senator Magno Malta (PL-ES) declared that “decriminalizing marijuana is a direct attack on families who suffer while caring for an addict”. Making clear reference to the controversial way in which the STF 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.

unprecedented tolerance

As shown by People’s Gazette, there is an unprecedented growth in the creation of obstacles to the fight against drug trafficking in Brazil by the STF and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). 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.