The Ministry of Justice and Public Security will allocate R$ 390,000, through the National Anti-Drug Fund (FUNAD), for a research that will analyze the practical effects of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) decision on marijuana possession. The initiative aims to differentiate users from traffickers.

Officialized this Friday (03), the study will be conducted by the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies (CESeC) and will be valid until September 2027. The goal is to measure how the STF decision, which established the 40-gram limit for personal use, changed judicial decisions in cases of cannabis seizure.

The research will seek to understand if the parameter has reduced penal selectivity, which historically disproportionately affects Black and peripheral people. The analysis will compare two distinct periods, from 2022 until mid-2024 (before the decision) and from the end of 2024 (after the decision), focusing specifically on the state of Rio de Janeiro.

The project will examine sentences, arrests on the spot, and procedural negotiations to verify if there has been a real change in legal treatment dynamics or if subjective criteria continue to perpetuate inequality and punitive concentration on the same populations.

According to criminal lawyer Luísa Matias, the application of the STF decision on cannabis possession still faces resistance, making the research essential.

"Peripheral individuals, Black individuals, or those with criminal records, for example, face more resistance, unfortunately, even if the amount of seized narcotic is less than the 40g indicated by the STF", she states.

Luísa Matias believes that the research can expose flaws and guide improvements. "The study is more than pertinent, as it will provide a better view of the current scenario," she assesses.

According to her, the collected data can be decisive for the future of drug policy in the country. "I believe it will allow a better identification of the elements that have hindered or even prevented the application of the established understanding, as well as influencing for an improvement of the Theme in a general way," she adds.

The lawyer emphasizes that the 40-gram parameter is not an absolute rule, as factors such as the presence of scales or packaging can lead to trafficking charges. She believes the research will help to "polish" the norm.

"By presenting, in data, the general panorama of the understanding application, it will allow a better polishing to facilitate, as a whole, the understanding to be truly applied, from the police authorities to the judiciary, further favoring the implementation of other public policies," she concludes.

Contextualizing the STF decision

In June 2024, the STF established that the possession of up to 40 grams of cannabis or the cultivation of up to six female plants constitutes, in principle, personal use. The conduct becomes an administrative offense, with measures restricted to warnings and educational courses.

However, the rule is not absolute. The presence of scales or packaging can lead to trafficking charges, but the police authority must justify in detail to dispel the presumption of use.

The New public policy after the STF decision

Facing the new scenario, the Ministry of Justice and the National Council of Justice (CNJ) are building a public policy to regulate the application of the STF decision on marijuana possession. The focus is to shift from a criminal approach to a perspective of care and access to health and social assistance services.

The proposal foresees that users caught within the limit be notified to attend a Center for Access to Rights and Social Inclusion (Cais), instead of being taken to the police station.

Review of Processes and the "Fair Sentence" Marathon

Simultaneously, the CNJ launched the "1st Criminal Procedural Marathon of the Fair Sentence plan", which reviews old convictions for cannabis possession. The initiative aims to adapt cases to the new understanding, which may result in the extinction of sentences and the removal of criminal records.

A report with the results of the marathon is scheduled for October 2025, offering a national overview of the impact of the STF decision on marijuana possession.