Senate CCJ debates Pacheco’s PEC that criminalizes drug possession

The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee (CCJ), of the Federal Senate, held this Tuesday (31) a public hearing to debate PEC 45/23, which amends art. 5th of the Federal Constitution, to “criminalize the possession and possession of narcotics and similar drugs without authorization or in disagreement with legal or regulatory determination”.

The project was authored by the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD/MG), and is a prior response to the ongoing trial by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) aimed at decriminalizing the conduct.

At the hearing, speakers highlighted the risks of decriminalizing drug possession. For the president of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association (ABP), Antônio Geraldo da Silva, a total ban on the possession of any drug is important, because dependence can cause various types of physical and psychological illnesses in people of any age.

According to the psychiatrist, the eventual decriminalization of marijuana could cause an epidemic similar to that caused by tobacco to date. He mentions that 8 million people die every year in the world from smoking, including secondhand smoke. In Brazil, he pointed out that there are 443 deaths daily due to cigarette addiction.

Also supporting the approval of the PEC were prosecutor José Theodoro Corrêa de Carvalho, from the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT), and the coordinator of the Alcohol and Drugs Research Unit at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), Ronaldo Ramos Laranjeira .

On the other hand, the coordinator of the Criminal Policy Commission of the National Association of Public Defenders (Anadep), Lúcia Helena Silva Barros de Oliveira, criticized the PEC by claiming that it could further burden the prison system, which, according to her, ” has been overwhelmed for years due to the large incarceration of small-time drug sellers, most of whom are poor and black people.”

At the end of the hearing, the PEC rapporteur, senator Efraim Filho (União-PB), projected that the vote on the text will take place by the end of November. “The next step [à audiência] it must be the presentation of the opinion and the vote, by the end of November, in the CCJ and then in the plenary, with the acquiescence of the president of the Senate himself, who is the first subscriber to the matter”, highlighted Efraim.

At the STF, the trial on drug possession was suspended in August, after minister André Mendonça presented a request for a review. Meanwhile, the Senate is racing against time to strengthen drug legislation.