“Like many similar endeavors in the United States, this is law enforcement disguised under a therapeutic banner.”
By Felipe Neis Araujo, Filter
In 2024, Brazil’s federal Supreme Court decriminalized personal possession of cannabis up to 40 grams, a ruling that was unanimously upheld in February 2025. Now, the Ministry of Justice and the National Council of Justice are scrambling to design a new “health-based” drug policy.
Purportedly inspired by Portugal’s model of decriminalization, the new approach would punish personal possession of cannabis not by sending someone to prison, but by sending them to the Centers for Access to Rights and Social Inclusion (CAIS) where they may be referred to treatment at one of Brazil’s notorious therapeutic communities.
What happens if they don’t want to go? Or don’t show up for their CAIS evaluation? The government has so far not given an answer. Even at the United Nations meeting in March where the new policy was unveiled, there was not a word about what if any choice people will have in accepting their referrals.
CAIS are multidisciplinary hubs where low-income drug users can connect with essential services. On paper, this may sound like a benefit for the public health. But in practice, what this describes is essentially drug court, with cases decided by multidisciplinary teams of social workers, health care workers and legal assistants, rather than judges. Like many similar endeavors in the United States, this is law enforcement disguised under a therapeutic banner.
If the team deems the person they’re evaluating to be at sufficient risk—perhaps due to race, poverty, mental or behavioral health problems or lack of documentation—that person could easily be funneled into treatment pathways that are neither effective nor voluntary.
As the public treatment system is sorely strained, many people will be referred to the treatment centers privately run by therapeutic communities. Often faith-based, these are forced labor camps that operate with minimal oversight and rampant human rights abuses. And of course, many of the owners who profit off them have close ties to the current administration.
Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s current term, these communities are not only surviving—they’re thriving. Despite the progressive image Lula continues to cultivate, his administration has maintained funding for involuntary commitment and deepened its relationship with therapeutic community leaders.
Former Minister of Health Nísia Trindade had advocated for more evidence-based and humane drug policy, but she was dismissed in February. A December 2022 report led by Trinande had recommended scrapping all policies legitimizing therapeutic communities and involuntary commitment. That report has since disappeared from the Brazilian government’s websites. So much for evidence-based policy.
The new model cites Portugal’s success with decriminalization. But that success came from approaching drug use as an enduring part of society rather than something to eradicate. It didn’t just focus on treatment. It was also accompanied by changes to public education around drugs—like retiring abstinence-only messaging in schools—and by investment in syringe service programs. While in Portugal’s model quantities of drugs that constitute personal possession are still confiscated, any treatment referrals that follow are not mandatory.
Brazil’s new CAIS model pays lip service to structural change. But with just 22 centers currently operational and nearly 100 still in development, it is only prepared for superficial change. The government is considering video-call evaluations to fill the gap. How much individual attention can each case possibly receive?
Felipe Neis Araujo is a Brazilian anthropologist. He’s a criminology lecturer at the University of Manchester, where he researches drug policy, state violence, structural racism and reparations for historical inequalities. He lives in London.
This article was originally published by Filter, an online magazine covering drug use, drug policy and human rights through a harm reduction lens. Follow Filter on Bluesky, X or Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.
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