Brazil

Overview of drug laws and legislative trends in Brazil.

Trend

Brazil went through legislative changes in 2002 and 2006, resulting in a partial decriminalization of possession for personal use. Prison sentences no longer apply and were replaced by educational measures and community services.

The Ministry of Justice and members of Congress are preparing various proposals to reform the current drug law. These are expected to include total decriminalization of possession of drugs for personal use and the lowering of sentence levels for small-scale trafficking.

Law

Law N° 11,343/2006, Art. 28:

“Whoever acquires, stores, transports or possesses unauthorized drugs for personal consumption in violation with legal standards or guidelines shall be forced to comply with the following:

I. Warning about the effects of drugs,
II. Community Service,
III. Participation in a drug educational program.”

Drugs and prisons in Brazil

In Brazil, possession of drugs for personal consumption is punished with educational measures and community service, not prison. In this video, a young man tells of the disparity in sentencing between the wealthy and the poor.

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Drug Laws and Prisons in Brazil

The number of people imprisoned for drug offenses in Brazil has increased over the last 20 years, but this has not affected the availability or consumption of drugs. The study also shows that those who are locked up for drug offenses are mainly small-scale dealers who represent the lowest links in drug distribution operations, and not the large-scale wholesale traffickers who dominate the country’s illicit drug trafficking trade.

Download the chapter on Brazil (PDF)

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Crack untamed: treat users, kill the market

Brazil will soon have a special police task force targeting crack-cocaine. Meanwhile, the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais proposes its own drug fighting alternatives to address crack on the domestic front. Crack is a risk factor in urban violence, contributing to homicides and robberies in Brazilian cities. However, it is not the chemistry involved in crack, but the crack market that is increasing the crime and violence. How can rising crack use effectively be addressed, other than through mere suppression?

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Too many in jail for drugs offenses in Brazil

The Ministry of Justice in Brazil announced the results of research that show that there are too many people behind bars in Brazil for drug trafficking. The Ministry subsequently recommended a review of drug legislation in light of the data and in support of human rights, seems to indicate that things are changing, or at least that change is in the air for drug policy in the nation. The study was a joint project of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, and the University of Brasília UnB, coordinated by Luciana Boiteux.

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Setting sights on future of drug policy

Participants of the Seminar "Drugs Policies: Progresses and Retrocessions", held in Rio de Janeiro by Viva Rio and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, recommend drug policy based on respect for human rights, developed from a public health perspective, that favors scientific research and includes strategies to prevent drug addiction. Luciana Boiteux underlined the disparity that exists between the depenalization of drug use and the increased penalization of selling drugs that resulted from the 2006 Law on Drugs.

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