The court, however, ruled that the consumption of marijuana in public will remain prohibited.
Brasilia:
The majority of judges at Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court are in favor of decriminalizing marijuana possession for personal consumption, following a crucial vote on Tuesday.
“The position is clear that no user of any drug can be considered a criminal,” said Minister Dias Toffoli, the sixth judge on the 11-member high court to vote for decriminalization.
So far, three judges have opposed the decision to no longer make possession of cannabis a crime, including its most recent member, Cristiano Zanin, appointed by left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The consumption of marijuana in public will remain prohibited and cannabis remains illegal in Brazil.
The decriminalization of their use has been discussed by the Federal Supreme Court since 2015 and the ministers reached a majority at a time when politicians are proposing a constitutional ban on the use of illegal drugs.
A bill currently being processed in Congress, with the support of conservative and evangelical legislators, proposes amending the Constitution to make the use and possession of any type of drug a crime.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
