DOI - Mendel University Press

DOI identifiers

DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-030-6-0029

BEYOND CRIMINALIZATION: RETHINKING BRAZILIAN AND CZECH POLICIES REGARDING SUBSTANCE USE / ZA HRANICE KRIMINALIZACE: PŘEHODNOCENÍ BRAZILSKÉ A ČESKÉ POLITIKY V OBLASTI UŽÍVÁNÍ NÁVYKOVÝCH LÁTEK

Beatriz Moraes Rodrigues de Oliveira ORCID...1, Igor Danin Lobo Soares dos Santos ORCID...2, Michal Uhrin ORCID...3, Miroslav Horák ORCID...4
1 Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, State University of São Paulo, Franca, Brazil
2 Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade, State University of Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Brazil
3 Department of Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
4 Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

This article aims to explore why substance use disorder (SUD) rates remain high despite governmental efforts, comparing the situation in the Czech Republic and Brazil and showing how the failure of prohibitionist strategies indicates the insufficiency of punitive measures by itself. Systematic literature review of the Brazilian and Czech data provided by institutional researchers concerning substance use from the last 5 years and the analysis of government policies exercised to combat it. 2070 journal articles were found at Web of Science in total. Brazil´s high incarceration rates, particularly for substance-related offenses, shows the consequences of its emphasis on criminalization. In contrast, the Czech Republic, while failing to achieve ideal rates, has managed the situation differently through more health-centered programs and legislation. The failure of prohibitionist and punitive approaches to effectively address SUDs is evident. In both countries this procedure reflects negative consequences by not only not achieving success in diminishing substance use rates, but also creating larger problems such as high incarceration and substance-related offenses rates.

Keywords: substance use, criminalization, substance use disorders, prohibitionism

pages: 29-38, Published: 2025, online: 2025



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