Brazil: As prison populations grow is it time to rethink policy on drugs?
RioRealblog cheated on Rio de Janeiro earlier this [month], running off to S茫o Paulo for two days and a night.
There were the constant comparisons: an art Biennial that didn鈥檛 hold a candle to the , an unbeatable crunchy听beirute听sandwich, much cleaner streets, and the surreal听paulistano听penchant for the upscale. How could anyone seriously name a building in the Jardins section of the city 鈥淟es Jardins des Jardins?"
And there was also an inspiring, imaginative breath of life: the launch of听, a network to urge a rethink of Brazil鈥檚 drug policy. Policy debate is such a rarity here; though the launch was one-sided, it did throw down a useful and provocative gauntlet.
鈥�,鈥� said network member Pedro Abramovay, a lawyer and law professor who served as national Justice Secretary under President Lula, and runs the听听of the cyber activist NGO, Avaaz.
Brazil鈥檚 drug law changed in 2006, ostensibly to make distinctions between users and dealers that would be helpful for its justice and penitentiary systems. It seems to have backfired,听say听Pense Livre members, with police labeling many young black users from favelas as dealers. They can do this because the 2006 law doesn鈥檛 specify quantities of drugs to define who is who. It also increased minimum drug trafficking prison terms from three to five years.
RELATED: Think you know Latin America? Take our geography quiz!
As a result, the country鈥檚 drug trafficking prison population ballooned, up 118 percent from 2006 to 2010, according to an article in the听听苍别飞蝉辫补辫别谤听citing Justice Ministry data. Over the same period, the total prison population grew 37 percent, to almost 500,000.
He was dead by then
This week鈥檚 event consisted of brief testimonials from some of the sixty young leaders who make up the network, in a series of three panels. Former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who anchored last year鈥檚 pioneer documentary advocating drug decriminalization,听听[Breaking the Taboo], followed the panels with a (surprisingly)听.
Fernando Grostein Andrade, director of the film, told of a pre-interview with an armed young drug trafficker, already a father of six. 鈥淲e asked him what his dream was,鈥� Mr. Grostein recalled. 鈥淗e said he wanted to be a dancer. We set a date to film the interview the following week, but he was dead by then.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to say 鈥榚nough鈥�,鈥� Grostein added. 鈥�. If you can鈥檛 wipe out drugs in a maximum security prison, you can鈥檛 do it in society at large.鈥�
Other network members noted that听legal and bureaucratic restrictions make听drug research nearly impossible in Brazil; that Portugal and twenty other countries have decriminalized and seen no surge in drug use; that there are 1.5 million cannabis users (80 percent of all drug users) in Brazil, which points to a need for a regulatory agency; ; that drugs are neither a problem nor a solution, but something that human beings consume and听; and that drug policy amounts to social control with racial undertones.
鈥淲ho benefits from the drug trade, who are the big fish?" asked Miguel Lago, political scientist and founder of the digital mobilization NGO,听. 鈥淲ho benefits from the current drug policy? We don鈥檛 know!鈥�
Pense Livre, organized by the听, has four objectives:
- Decriminalize all drugs and invest in a public health approach to drug use;
- For cannabis, regulate medicinal use and home cultivation for personal use;
- Invest in programs for youth at risk, and offer alternative sentencing for non-violent first offenders; and
- Make medical and scientific research possible, for all drugs.
The large group on the stage of the Ita煤 Cultural building鈥檚 auditorium on Avenida Paulista presented a united front and counts on strong allies, such as the NGO , part of a consortium which recently began听. Last year also saw the launch of the film听 [Smokescreen], in addition to听Taboo 鈥� so Brazilians have had a chance to begin thinking about decriminalization. Congress has already听.
Another side to the debate
These liberals face an entrenched听, buoyed by a media that often fails to report with nuance and depth. The high visibility of official attempts in Rio and S茫o Paulo to听听may reinforce听. And the yearly Marcha da Maconha (Marijuana March), which dates back to 1994,听.
Those who support drug decriminalization point to Prohibition in the United States, saying its repeal helped to regulate alcohol consumption and reduce crime and violence.
It is quite something to imagine a Rio de Janeiro where cariocas [locals] tranquilly grow and smoke their own, with no more gun-toting dealer armies, or trigger-happy cops. Ideally, the city would become fully integrated, fully accessible and safe.
But drug trafficking as we know it听, anyway. Ten years from now, some 鈥淔riquon么micas鈥� analyst may 鈥渄iscover鈥� that the听听than the hundreds of police and dozens of security cameras used this week, for example, to set up听.
Or maybe the story will be that so many young black men were killed in Rio鈥檚 long undeclared wars among and against drug traffickers, that听in the second decade of the second millennium听few were left to father those who would roll the joints and raise the rifles.
RELATED: Think you know Latin America? Take our geography quiz!
No such thing as being poor enough, if you鈥檙e a cop
All of 听which makes one wonder what the militias 鈥� often consisting of off-duty or former cops and firemen 鈥� will be up to in ten years. Soon,听they鈥檒l be听more easily investigated and brought to justice, by way of听. Still, wage and training issues, plus the swelling ranks of the Rio military police force, meant to grow from the current 44,000 to 60,000 by 2016, could provide eager recruits for the still-poorly regulated transportation, bottled gas, cable tv and other businesses run by paramilitary gangs.
Despite investigations and some arrests, a strong connection persists betweenmilicianos听and city and state government. Rio鈥檚 regional electoral court says. Only a wholesale push for political transparency, responsibility and accountability can change this picture.
Last weekend, a former elite squad commander with the incredibly befitting last name of Pr铆ncipe (Prince), refused to take a Breathalyzer test at an听Opera莽茫o Lei Seca听[Dry Law Operation] roadblock, when stopped driving a Porsche worth $ 325,000 dollars. Mr.
Pobreza pouca 茅 bobagem, he added, making reference to the popular saying,听desgra莽a pouca 茅 bobagem听[When it rains, it pours]鈥� 鈥淭here鈥檚 no such thing as being poor enough.鈥�
RioRealblog thanks Andr茅 Gordirro for his translation help.
