Pubdate: Thu, 13 Dec 2001
Source: Reuters (Wire)
Copyright: 2001 Reuters Limited
Author: Marco Sibaja

BRAZIL'S NEW ANTI-DRUG POLICY FLAWED, SAY CRITICS

BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil's new anti-drug initiative, which involves 
tougher punishments for drug trafficking and softer penalties for 
consumption, was criticized by some political analysts on Thursday as 
underfunded and inadequate.

"This is a parody of a policy, a badly made draft of what should be an 
anti-drug policy," said Judge Walter Maierovitch, Brazil's former anti-drug 
czar.

Under current Brazilian law, someone caught smoking marijuana can receive 
the same penalties as someone caught with a pound of cocaine. A bill 
working its way through Congress would stiffen penalties for drug 
traffickers while handing drug users alternative sentences like community work.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso launched the new program on Tuesday 
while announcing the appointment of Gen. Paulo Roberto Uchoa as the 
government's new drug czar. Uchoa said his top priority would be to improve 
training and put together an analysis of Brazil's drug consumption problem.

But some analysts contacted by Reuters said the new policy may make the 
problem worse.

Maierovitch said the policy is inspired by U.S. drug rules, but that while 
the United States has spent heavily on anti-drug campaigns, the Brazilian 
government is doing a lot of talking but forking out too little money.

Moreover, the new policy puts responsibility for prevention in the hands of 
municipal and state governments but does not detail how they should tackle 
the problem.

"The policy is an acknowledgment that the drug problem is out of control," 
said Argemiro Procopio, a sociology professor at the University of Brasilia 
who studies drug habits.

"What is being announced is a policy that is too limited, that won't reach 
the poorest income sectors nor rural areas."

Only a decade ago Brazil was a mere stopover on the cocaine trail from the 
Andes to Miami, New York and London, but now Latin America's most populous 
country has turned into an increasingly voracious customer itself.

The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNCPD) 
estimated last year that 900,000 Brazilians had used cocaine. Some experts 
speculate that Brazil has become the world's No. 2 cocaine consumer after 
the United States, but there have been no nationwide studies of drug use 
and Brazilian officials vehemently deny the possibility.

Civic groups have urged more education on the effects of drug consumption 
and stressed the need for incentives to ensure insurance companies treat 
drug addiction as a medical problem.
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