Brazil invested $1.2 billion in drug policy in 2011-2014
The government invested $1.2 billion in drug prevention, treatment, and drug war between 2011 and 2014.
The government invested $1.2 billion in drug prevention, treatment, and drug war between 2011 and 2014. According to the National Secretariat for Drug Policy (SENAD) housed under the Ministry of Justice, 80% of the amount spent on the program was used for prevention and treatment.
In a statement, SENAD said its budget had a “record increase” in recent years. “From the [secretariat] creation in 1998 until 2010, an average $3 million was spent per year. In 2014, spending reached $63.82 million. For 2015, the government has set aside more than $109 million.”
The secretariat further said that $14.03 million was spent on research to find new alternatives to deal with drug users and reduce the adverse consequences of drug use.
The federal government designed its 'You Can Beat Crack' drug policy program based on this principle,” k
“Brazil's government had never invested so much in drug policy as it did in the past four years. The current legislation introduced in 2006 does not carry prison for users. Both use and addiction should ideally be addressed from a social and health perspective. The federal government designed its 'You Can Beat Crack' drug policy program based on this principle,” SENAD said.
During a recent seminar held by the Open Society Foundations organization in Rio de Janeiro, which discussed the global drug policy especially in Latin America, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said there is “a clear bias” based on gender, skin color and social class in the criminalization of drug users in Brazil. He advocated the decriminalization of drug use in the country and said that “apparently, the current government is not sensitive to this issue.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazil invested $1.2 billion in drug policy in 2011-2014
