06/16/2024 – 11:35
Mass incarceration and police violence in the poorest communities are at the center of discussions at this year’s São Paulo Marijuana March. With the axis Bolando o Futuro sem Guerra, the demonstration is scheduled for the early afternoon of this Sunday (16) in front of the São Paulo Museum of Art (Masp), on Avenida Paulista, central region of the capital. The march will go down Rua Augusta towards Praça da República, in the city center.
The movement claims that the prohibition of marijuana serves as a pretext for the persecution of the black population who live in the peripheral areas of large cities. “The big lie of prohibition is repeated to support the weapons industry, prisons and massacres. A racist ideology that turns corruption into routine, fueling armed, violent and profitable markets that grow day after day”, says the 2024 march manifesto, emphasizing that the illegality of drugs is supported by lies, which go against scientific evidence.
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“You still have senators, parliamentarians and psychiatrists who go to Brasília and lie. They blatantly lie”, says activist Rebeca Lerer, who has participated in the mobilization since the first march in the capital of São Paulo, 16 years ago. According to her, several studies show that the plant has many applications, including medicinal ones. “But, as happens with many other topics, there is a disinformation machine, whether for conservative reasons or economic and political interests, that works against it,” she says.
In the world
The context of regulating the trade and use of marijuana in other parts of the world brings, according to Rebeca, new discussions, such as different legalization models. Last April, Germany legalized adult consumption and domestic production of the plant. In recent years, South Africa, Uruguay, Canada and parts of the United States have also made marijuana illegal.
“In each country this is being done in a different way, in some countries in a supercapitalist way, which prioritizes large investors and the concentration of this market, and in others, in a slower, more gradual way, which prioritizes cooperatives and gardeners [cultivadores caseiros]. This regulatory model is under dispute. Obviously, the pharmaceutical industry and others, fibers, oils, various products that can be made from parts of the cannabis plant, are keeping an eye on this very valuable market”, analyzes the activist.
In Brazil
Rebeca Lerer sees the discussion about drugs at the center of the political agenda and public debate in Brazil, being discussed both in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and in the National Congress. “This is a central theme for the country, an important dispute politically, economically, from the point of view of our socioeconomic development,” she argues.
The proposal that includes in the Constitution the criminalization of possession or possession of any quantity of drugs was approved last Wednesday (12) in the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies. The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 45/2023 will still be analyzed by a special commission. If approved by the committee, the PEC will go to the plenary for analysis.
An action that decriminalizes possession of marijuana for personal use is being judged by the STF. The analysis of the case was interrupted, at the beginning of March, by a view request made by Minister Dias Toffoli. Before the interruption, five ministers voted in favor of decriminalization and three were against it.
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