The Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) has begun to apply the decision that decriminalized the possession of marijuana for personal use and set the amount at 40 grams to differentiate users from drug dealers. The decision was made last week and released this Wednesday (21).
In June of this year, the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the highest court in the Justice system, decriminalized possession and determined that the decision must be complied with throughout the country. The ministers maintained possession as an unlawful behavior, but defined that the consequences would be administrative in nature, not criminal.
The STJ ruled on an appeal by a defendant who was prosecuted for carrying 23 grams of marijuana. Upon analyzing the case, the ministers of the panel decided to extinguish the man’s punishability.
With the decision, the case will be sent to the first instance, which must apply administrative measures, such as warnings about drug use and mandatory attendance at an educational course.
The Supreme Court’s decision did not legalize the possession of marijuana. Possession for personal use remains an illegal behavior, meaning smoking the drug in public places remains prohibited.
The Court ruled on the constitutionality of Article 28 of the Drug Law (Law 11,343/2006). To differentiate between users and traffickers, the law provided for alternative penalties of community service, warnings about the effects of drugs and mandatory attendance at an educational course.
The Court upheld the validity of the rule, but understood that the consequences were administrative, meaning that the possibility of providing community services was no longer valid.
The warning and mandatory attendance at an educational course remain in place and should be applied by the Court in administrative procedures, without criminal repercussions.
