We Will Take the Fight Against the War on Drugs to Lula's Government Council

By Patrícia Vilela Marino

In May of this year, I took office as one of the 246 members of the Social and Sustainable Economic Development Council of the Presidency of the Republic, also known as Lula's "Conselhão". My goal in accepting the invitation is to contribute to making this space a vehicle for active citizenship, capable of formulating proposals that address the root causes of the current war on drugs.

As a first step, I initiated a series of contacts with other council members to propose a working group dedicated to rethinking the prohibition of drugs that can bring health benefits and stimulate the economy, as well as allocating taxes on alcohol and tobacco to public health and safety policies. The Working Group "National Policy on Psychoactive Substances: Health Promotion, Economic Activity Stimulation, and Public Safety Improvement" is expected to be established by the end of the year, but work has already begun. Currently, we are compiling research, defining the agenda of guests for technical lectures, and mapping points in civil and criminal legislation that deserve changes.

To start, I would like to share the perspective from which I approach this discussion. Brazil has very different approaches to psychoactive drugs such as alcohol and tobacco on one side, and Cannabis, Psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD on the other. While the former, which only bring harm to health, are socially accepted, have unrestricted sales and advertising, and generate taxes, the latter, despite the health benefits proven by dozens of scientific studies, are prohibited, constituting the main source of income for criminal factions and positioning the Brazilian prison system as the third largest incarcerator in the world.

Therefore, I insist that it is necessary to unlock the knot that prevents the country from realizing the economic benefits of Cannabis and other drugs, which in the U.S. already generate billions of dollars in the formal economy every year. The sale of psychoactive drugs such as alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, on the other hand, cannot continue to grow without redirecting taxes to treat people affected by addiction or to finance public health and safety policies in the fight against trafficking.

Aware of the urgency of the topic and the work we have ahead, I take this opportunity to thank the good company of the 20 members of the Conselhão who will be by my side: Claudio Luiz Lottenberg, Maria Alice Setubal, Nelson Jobim, Walfrido dos Mares Guia, Priscila Fonseca da Cruz, José Vicente, Ricardo Manuel dos Santos Henriques, Ana Amélia Inoue, Fernanda de Albuquerque Maranhão Burle, José Ricardo Montenegro Cavalcante, Ana Fontes, Rosangela Lyra, Germano Rigotto, Teresa Vendramini, Eduardo Wurzmann, Renata Piazzon, Emanuel Teles Oliveira, Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, Ilona Szabó, and Viviane Pereira Sedola.

The opinions expressed in this article are personal and the responsibility of their authors.

About the author:

Patrícia Villela is a lawyer, entrepreneur, activist, columnist for Sechat, and president of the Humanitas360 Institute, a non-governmental organization aimed at rehabilitating individuals who are currently or have been incarcerated.