Zanin’s vote against drug decriminalization enrages the left

The vote cast by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Cristiano Zanin, this Thursday (24), against the decriminalization of possession of marijuana for personal use, infuriated left-wing militants, who used social networks to attack the minister and criticize President Lula (PT) for nominating Zanin to the Supreme Court.

“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”, said Zanin in his vote.

The minister also defended that the legislation questioned in the case (article 28 of the Antidrug Law) is the only one to contain “relatively objective parameters to differentiate, at present, the situation of the user from the drug dealer”. “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”, added Zanin.

After the vote, the STF suspended the trial as a result of a request for a review by Minister André Mendonça. The score is 5-1 in favor of decriminalization of the drug, since the President of the Court, Rosa Weber, decided to anticipate her pro-decriminalization vote even after the request for a review.

The vote by Lula’s former lawyer displeased left-wing militants and made him the target of various criticisms on social networks.

“Zanin, in addition to being extremely conservative, invokes arguments that are proven to be untrue about the (de)criminalization of drugs and the treatment of addiction. In fact, it is the opposite of what he claims”, wrote communist Sofia Manzano on the social network X, formerly Twitter. Manzano is an economist and was a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, last year, for the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB).

“In his disastrous vote on drugs, Zanin says that ‘decrimination, even partial of drugs, could contribute to the worsening of this health problem”. This is false. In countries where criminalization was made more flexible, consumption did not increase and health policies were more effective”, said Pedro Abramovay, Vice President of Programs for the controversy Open Society Foundationsan institution led by controversial billionaire George Soros.

“I warned you, Zanin is nothing like a progressive person and guarantees are not valid for the poor”, wrote Thiago Amparo, a lawyer and columnist for Folha de S. Paulo.

“Zanin’s vote is regrettable. Decriminalizing drug possession is essential to combat mass incarceration and the so-called ‘war on drugs’, which affects poor and black people in particular. Lula’s next nomination to the STF must represent the democratic and progressive struggles”, said the far-left deputy, Sâmia Bomfim (PSOL-SP).

“I really, really wanted to be wrong in my predictions about Zanin. It would be much better than getting it right,” commented actor and far-left activist Gregorio Duvivier.

“When Lula indicated that he would put Zanin on the STF, the progressives only asked for one thing: ‘Where are the positions of this man? What is your worldview?’ Now it’s clear. Lula put a conservative in the STF who will stay there for 27 years! Unbelievable, Lula. Unbelievable”, said youtuber Felipe Neto.

In May of this year, Felipe Neto was decorated as an official adviser to the Lula government the day after he spoke at the UN General Assembly about the “digital platforms and the efforts we need to have to preserve free speech, mental health and tackle hate speech and misinformation”.

In another postFelipe Neto said he continues to defend the vote for Lula “until death”, but classified Zanin’s nomination to the STF as the PT’s “biggest mistake” so far.

“We will have 27 years of this guy in the STF […] Unforgivable, inexplicable and unacceptable. We now have 3 ultraconservative ministers on the Court,” said Neto.

Jurist questions the view of left-wing activists on the political instrumentalization of justice

For the constitutionalist lawyer André Marsiglia, the militancy revolt reveals the view of the left that ministers have to be “just political instruments”.

“The left revolting with Zanin’s votes, as if there had been a betrayal of the ideals of those who nominated him, shows how much people expect ministers to be just political instruments. The revolt shows that most people have internalized the expectation that ministers serve merely to read the ideological primer of those who appointed them. It is an important symptom that we have naturalized a perverse aspect of the system that governs the appointment of Ministers to the Court”.

Confirming the lawyer’s thesis, federal deputy Ivan Valente (PSOL-SP) highlighted his position contrary to Zanin’s recent decisions, which are flagrantly averse to the leftist agenda.

“We are in favor of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana. We are in favor of equating LGBTphobia with racial slurs. Zanin.