A war on drugs consumed about R$7.7 billion in the year 2023 in six Brazilian federative units, according to data released by the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies (CESeC), this Tuesday (10).
The study “Boomerang Effect: the cost of drug prohibition” collected information from six federative units, such as Bahia, Distrito Federal, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. These locations together spent this amount with the intention of implementing the Drug Law (11,343/06).
The research reveals the amount of work dedicated to drug prohibition within the scope of seven institutions of the Criminal Justice System, namely the Civil and Military Police, Public Prosecutor’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Court of Justice, Penitentiary System and the Socio-educational System. The information was obtained through the Access to Information Law (LAI).
The coordinator of CESeC and the project, Julita Lemgruber, highlights that the war on drugs can impact some specific social groups. “The war on drugs resembles an amateur and strategyless boomerang move, but the object here is a billion-dollar amount of public money, which is turned against the population, with devastating impacts, especially for black and peripheral youth,” he comments. .
More than R$4.5 billion was spent on just two institutions, the Military Police and the Penitentiary Systemaccording to the research.
Furthermore, Bahia, the Federal District, Pará, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo together spent almost R$1 billion on the Socio-Educational System last year. Such expenses were directed towards depriving and restricting the freedom of adolescents for infractions related to the Drug Law.
It is worth highlighting that the state of Santa Catarina is not included in this sum, because its Socio-Educational System is part of the State Secretariat for Prison and Socio-Educational Administration.
Lack of transparency
The research also highlights the lack of transparency regarding fundamental information that can estimate the real costs of implementing the Drug Law.
As shown in the study, an example of this lack of transparency is present in the information provided by the Military Police, in which part of the work aimed at drug-related crimes is not recorded or published. Everyday searches on the streets only generate records when some quantity of narcotics is seized.
The process, which already begins with little transparency, compromises the entire system. The military police carry out operations that are very costly for the State and that devastate the lives and future of thousands of young black people from the outskirts, whether due to the lethality of their actions, incarceration or the limitations imposed on daily life, such as the impossibility of going to the school or a health center. In short, from any point of view the cost of prohibition also means immense damage to society
Julita Lemgruber, coordinator of CESeC
Furthermore, the comparison of Criminal Justice System expenditures analyzed in the study reveals significant differences between the federal units analyzed.
Based on the PM indicator, 26.3% of incidents recorded in Bahia in patrolling and/or flagrant actions are related to the Drug Law. In the other states mentioned and in the Federal District, this number varies between 3.5% and 8.2%.
Within this, it is noteworthy that in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, of the total number of adolescents served by socio-educational systems, 40.0% comply with restriction measures and deprivation of liberty for acts similar to the crimes provided for in the Drug Law.
The situation is opposite in Pará, where this number represents 3.9% of the total number of young people in these institutions.
“This war on drugs strategy does not reduce consumption and does not bring more security to the population. We need to review this”, comments Lemgruber to CNN.
Essential services
According to the study, the allocation of the budget to the war on drugs compromises what could be invested in essential services. With the R$7.7 billion spent, the research indicates that 954 new public schools could have been built, in addition to the maintenance, for a year, of 396 Emergency Care Units (UPAs).
What the federative units say
The state of São Paulo reported in a statement that “combating drug trafficking has been one of the priorities of the Public Security Secretariat since the beginning of the administration” and said that “435.2 tons of drugs were seized” between 2023 and 2024.
Pará reported that in 2024, the “integrated work of the security forces resulted in the seizure of more than 12 tons of narcotics and the arrest of 1,766 members of criminal factions in more than 70 operations carried out until November.”
HAS CNNthe Federal District commented that, in 2023, “it did not receive resources exclusively intended for combating drugs within the scope of the DF prison system.”
When asked for a position on the matter, the governments of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina did not get back to us until the publication of this article.
