Good morning! Today, we talk about the right’s desire to revive the failed war on drugs. Brazil’s human development index regains some of its pandemic losses. And companies’ move against the recent equal-pay law.
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Tough drug bill advances in Senate
The Senate Constitution and Justice Committee on Wednesday passed a bill that would criminalize drug possession, a move publicly aimed at getting ahead of the Supreme Court before the justices are able to reach a decision in an ongoing case that could decriminalize possession of marijuana for personal use.
👉 Why it matters. The spirit of this legislation is to recreate the logic of the war on drugs, a strategy that has been an abject failure for decades. Drug gangs continue to grow more powerful, Brazilians feel less safe, and overdose deaths quadrupled between 2000 and 2018, according to a 2023 study.
State of play. In 2006, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law to depenalize (but not decriminalize) drug possession. Punishment would be in the form of...