It is the most used drug in the world (according to the UN 230 million people ask for it) and while in Italy they are even thinking of banning the sale of the so-called light version, Brazil decriminalizes cannabis for personal use, with a very tolerant detention limit of up to 40 grams. By decision of Supreme Court (STF), it is no longer a crime to detain up to 40 grams of “cannabis sativa" neither grow up to 6 "female" plants, that is, those with the highest concentration of THC.
A historic, unexpected decision – to the point of even displacing President Lula went so far as to argue by arguing that "the STF should not deal with just anything" - and that it will serve to reduce the number of arrests for drug trafficking and consequently ease the pressure on prisons: according to the 2006 drug law, in fact, for drug trafficking still provides for penalties of between 5 and 20 years in prison, in a country where there are over 700.000 prisoners (third place in the world), i.e. almost double the places actually available in penitentiary institutions.
Cannabis laws in other countries
Brazil thus becomes the 19th country in the world, according to a survey carried out by the 3 NGOs Release, International Drug Policy Consortium and Accountability International, to at least partially liberalize cannabis at a national level (the 35th to liberalize some narcotics), and considering that in the United States the similar decision was taken only by some individual states or provinces, the South American country is today the most populated in the world, with its over 200 million inhabitants, to have effectively cleared the personal use of soft drugs. To date, countries such as Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Luxembourg and some states of Australia have a discipline similar to the one introduced in Brazil, while in Europe there are several countries that in some way have begun to tolerate the consumption of narcotic substances and in particular cannabis: they range from 5 grams of marijuana permitted in the Netherlands up to 100 grams in Spain, but Portugal, Germany which has recently freed recreational use, and Italy itself, to this day, albeit with limitations on the concentration of THC. Brazil has also conceded a lot on plant cultivation, more than the average of other countries.
Cannabis: a 30 billion euro market, but right-wing governments are considering tightening
The decision is indicative of a global trend going towards ever greater tolerance on these issues, in particular on cannabis which is largely the most requested substance and which only in Europe has aa market worth over 30 billion euros. However, in recent times there are also signs of one new wave of prohibition: the rise of right-wing governments in several countries, such as in Italy, is leading to new evaluations. Oregon, for example, in the United States, has changed its mind: in February it decided to penalize the use of cannabis again, after having been the first US state to liberalize it. Even in countries like Holland and Denmark, which have rethought entire neighborhoods of Copenhagen and Amsterdam on the cannabis market and built a controversial tourism model, they are now considering new restrictions due to a growth in crime and a nightlife that ends up annoying residents.