Figures reveal the failure of Brazil’s war on drugs

Researchers and policymakers around the world largely agree that the war on drugs is a failure. Drug gangs are as strong as ever, and attempts to combat them with police raids and arrests have only created a vicious cycle of poverty and violence, both in Brazil and abroad.

Not only has the war on drugs been long, it has also been costly. A new study published by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) shows that Brazil spends approximately USD 10.3 billion a year fighting drug gangs — according to March 2023 figures, this budget could have covered three months of Bolsa Família, Brazil’s flagship social welfare program.

Brazil’s primary strategy is to combat the illegal drug market by going after the gangs. Frequent police operations, characterized by the unrestricted use of heavy weapons, are aimed at dismantling criminal organizations and seizing illegal substances.

This strategy has come under heavy criticism for its human toll in marginalized communities across the country, as well as its ineffectiveness in making gang-dominated areas safer. While police lethality has declined somewhat in recent years, the overall number of deaths at the hands of law enforcement remains significantly high. 

Nearly 6,500 people were killed by Brazilian police in 2022, according to the latest Brazilian Public Security Annual, published by the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP). The statistic is five times the number of police killings in the U.S., according to the 2022 Police Violence Report.

In the state of São Paulo, home to 22 percent of Brazilians, the number of people killed by police has declined over the past three...