Brazil Supreme Court Issues Major Cannabis Decision

Currently, cannabis is legal for adult use at a national level in Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa. Additionally, two dozen states in the U.S. have adopted recreational cannabis legalization measures, and adult-use pilot trials are operating in multiple jurisdictions in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Another area of emerging cannabis policy can be found via court decisions. Landmark court decisions have been handed down in such nations as Spain, Italy, and Mexico. South Africa’s top court struck down cannabis prohibition laws before the African nation’s lawmakers eventually adopted a legalization measure to further codify the court’s previous decision.

Brazil is the latest country to experience a landmark court ruling in favor of adult-use cannabis consumers. Below is more information about what the court decided and its potential impact via a news release from NORML:

Brasilia, Brazil: Brazilians may possess up to 40 grams of cannabis and home-cultivate up to six marijuana plants without the threat of arrest or incarceration, according to a determination by members of the Supreme Federal Court.

The decision affirms and clarifies an earlier decision depenalizing low-level marijuana possession. The use of cannabis in public remains subject to administrative penalties. Cannabis trafficking remains punishable by criminal penalties.

An estimated 25 percent of Brazilian prisoners are serving time for minor drug possession offenses.

In 2018, South Africa’s highest court similarly determined that the use of marijuana by adults in private is constitutionally protected behavior. Lawmakers eventually signed legislation into law in 2024, codifying the personal use of marijuana by adults.