I missed this when it first appeared. Glenn Greenwald reported:
The past decade has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the global debate over drug policy. As recently as the mid-2000s, drug legalization or even decriminalization was a fringe idea, something almost no politician would get near. That’s all changed.
[…]
The rationale most commonly offered for decriminalization is the utilitarian one, i.e.efficacy: that prosecuting and imprisoning drug users produces more harm than good. Also frequently invoked is a claim about justice and morality: that it’s morally wrong to criminally punish someone for what amounts to a health problem (addiction).
By contrast, the Supreme Court of Brazil may be on the verge of adopting a much different and more interesting anti-criminalization justification. The Court is deciding whether the right of privacy, guaranteed by Article 5 of the nation’s constitution(one’s “intimate” and “private life” are “inviolable”), bars the state from punishing adults who decide to consume drugs.
Read more on The Intercept.