Tendências da política brasileira de combate às drogas : seria a descriminalização um futuro possível?

Abstract

The present research was designed to investigate the current model of drug policy in Brazil, as well as to inquire about the possibilities for its future review. It is known that the use of certain substances – whether in search of sensations of pleasure, excitement or even relaxation – has accompanied the human being since the beginning, with the particularities of each cultural and historical moment. The designation of some of these substances as prohibited is recent, especially the criminalization of their use and/or distribution. Following a wave at the world level, Brazil edited the first penal legislation on the subject over the last century, especially in periods when the country was governed by military dictatorships. This posture, based on criminal intervention in relation to users and traders of prohibited substances, known as the war on drugs, demonstrated, over the decades, numerous flaws: there was no decrease in the consumption and distribution of drugs, on the contrary, it created a specialized criminality, heavily armed, supported by corrupt official agents and with the ability to move gigantic figures with their product, at the same time that considerable state capital was invested in the effort to dismantle these trafficking networks, appointing police and military forces that invade homes throughout Brazil, imprison young people (in general, blacks and the poor), shed the blood of innocents and their own employees, all in the name of a war that, in fact, has no winners, only victims. For all these reasons, the criminalization of conduct related to the use and trade of these substances has not been shown to be an adequate option for dealing with the matter. This conclusion was possible after a thorough analysis of favorable and contrary positions in the doctrine, through documentary and bibliographic research of materials produced in Brazil and abroad. It was verified, then, that, in view of this finding, many nations started to adopt diversified models to fight drugs, in many cases legalizing the main substances and regulating their access and consumption. Given the country's current legislative context, it does not seem credible that a similar change will take place through the National Congress, at least not in the near future. The expectation, therefore, is due to the intervention of the Federal Supreme Court, which has been showing signs of a gradual progressive opening on the topic of drugs and may change the entire current panorama if it understands article 28 of Act nº 11.343/2006 as unconstitutional – which criminalizes the possession of drugs for consumption – upon the judgment of Extraordinary Appeal nº 635.659. In this way, the decriminalization of possession for personal use would be fully implemented, and a future authorization for sale could be considered, with the legalization and regulation of the use and access to these substances, by imposing limits, quality assessment, taxation and all the consequences of its displacement to the legal market. With this decision, it is expected that the country gradually starts to see the issue with new eyes, envisioning a reality where the regulation of the matter, related to public health, be conducted by other sources of control (formal and informal), far from the criminal environment, which has already proved to be much more harmful than suitable for the protection that proposes.