Drugs and Democracy in Brazil
This grant is to support a two-year campaign to put the issue of drug reform on the political and legislative agenda in Brazil, following on the work of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. Viva Rio will work with the Ministry of Justice and with the Commission of Security Issues of the National Parliament in order to produce a new legal framework for drug policy in Brazil. The specifics of the new law will depend on the results of a collaborative process, but it will explore various options, including the decriminalization of consumption for personal use and the regulation of domestic production of cannabis, and will seek to make a clear legal distinction between wholesale dealing and retail trade. In addition, the project will focus on the challenge posed by the association between the drug trade and organized crime, looking for mechanisms and strategies that will help separate these two issues.