Brazil: Supreme Court judge calls for legalization to fight gangs

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has called for the legalization of cannabis and cocaine to weaken the growing power of the gangs that have recently unleashed violence and rocked Latin America's largest country.

Judge Roberto Barroso, a Yale graduate and professor of constitutional law, explains that 50 years of the war on drugs has failed miserably, sending small-time dealers to prison while fueling violent gang rivalries for control of a highly lucrative market.

«Unlike in the United States or Europe, where the problems are based on the impact of drugs on consumers, in Brazil the problems stem from the power that drug traffickers have over poor communities,» he said. Barroso told Reuters.

«I can assure you it's only a matter of time. Either we legalize cannabis now, or we do it later after spending billions and incarcerating thousands of people.».

This rare appeal from a representative of Brazil's judiciary reflects the growing fears engendered by violence in overcrowded prisons and shantytowns.

On New Year's Eve, inmates beheaded a dozen rival gang members, triggering prison riots across the country. Last week, a police strike in the state of Espirito Santo triggered a wave of murders of over 120 people, most of them gang-related.

Regulating the production, sale and consumption of cannabis, like their Uruguayan neighbor, could be the first step towards reducing the crime rate.

«If this works, we can easily legalize cocaine,» says Barroso, who also advocates stem cell research and gay rights. «If you want to break the power of traffickers, you have to consider legalizing cocaine.

While most of its neighbors have decriminalized cannabis, Brazil remains divided. Barroso is one of only 3 judges out of 11 on the Supreme Court to have recently voted in favor of decriminalizing cannabis. decriminalization of cannabis.

Since a 2006 law gave judges the power to determine who was a user and who was a dealer, the prison population has increased by 55%. 1/4 of male inmates are in prison for drug trafficking, the number one reason for incarceration in the country.

«I'm not sure that my proposal for legalization will work, but I'm sure that the war on drugs hasn't worked,» explains Barroso. «We can't just repeat the same mistakes over and over again.