MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's STF decriminalizes marijuana consumption

Marijuana consumption will remain an administrative offense until other branches of government agree on the maximum amount marking the difference between personal use and traffic

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) issued a ruling Tuesday decriminalizing marijuana consumption for personal use, albeit only in private places. As per Brazil's current legislation dating back to 2006, the unauthorized acquisition or transport of drugs for personal use including marijuana carried penalties. Drug use in public areas has been maintained. Another debate revolved around how much marijuana would signal the difference between users and dealers. The case reached the STF following an appeal filed by a prison inmate hiding 3 grams of marijuana in his cell.

In the European Union, Malta was the first country to legalize cannabis in 2021, followed by Luxembourg in 2023 and, recently, Germany. Elsewhere, only Uruguay in 2013 and Canada in 2018 legalized marijuana. However, using marijuana for medicinal purposes is validated in about 50 countries. In Brazil, many patients have had to get the courts to grant them the right to use the active ingredient cannabidiol, or CBD, for the treatment of diseases such as epilepsy.

As per the STF's ruling, the use of the substance will no longer be a crime but will remain an administrative offense pending a definition on the amount acceptable for personal use. While some magistrates proposed specific figures, Cármen Lúcia argued that 60 grams should be valid until the legislature sets a figure. Justices Edson Fachin, Dias Toffoli, Luiz Fux, and André Mendonça, agreed it was up to Congress or executive bodies, such as the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to determine the quantity.

Concurrent with the case before the STF trial, a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that defines possessing or carrying drugs as a crime, regardless of the quantity, is being treated in Congress. The bill was passed by the Senate in April and last week it was also approved by the Lower House's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ).