Drug Policy in Brazil

inconsistencies in preventive and repressive policies and the distinction between trafficking and consumption

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Drug policy in Brazil has historically been marked by repression, with an emphasis on the criminalization of use and the repression of trafficking. However, the complexity of the phenomenon, which involves health, public security, and human rights dimensions, demands more integrated approaches. The absence of objective criteria to differentiate trafficking from consumption generates legal uncertainty, mass incarceration, and overlapping fragmented policies, hindering the effectiveness of both repressive and public health strategies. This study aims to critically analyze the convergences and divergences between the policies of the National Secretariat for Drug Policies and those of the Ministry of Health, highlighting how the distinction between patrimonial intent (trafficking) and health-related intent (consumption) can guide complementary policies. To this end, documentary and bibliographic research was conducted, with a critical-narrative review of public policies and regulations, combined with a jurimetric analysis of data from the Brazilian Association of Jurimetrics, which reveal the impacts of Law 11.343/2006 on incarceration and on the classifications of possession and trafficking in São Paulo. The results show an 80% increase in the prison population after the Drug Law, with trafficking rising from 15.5% to 25.5% of incarcerations in six years, in addition to penal selectivity with a disproportionate impact on women. At the same time, advances in Ministry of Health policy regarding harm reduction were identified, while the National Secretariat for Drug Policies maintains its focus on structural combat against trafficking. It is concluded that the differentiation between trafficking (patrimonial core, linked to organized crime) and consumption (health dimension) opens space for complementary policies, advocating coordinated action between the National Secretariat for Drug Policies and the Ministry of Health, integrating selective repression and community-based care, with information sharing and cross-financing, towards a more rational, effective, and human rights-aligned drug policy.