Therapeutic justice: Meanings attributed by psychiatrists and judges to the law regarding marijuana

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4322/dilemas.v17.n.1.56189

Keywords:

Marijuana, Drug Law, Psychiatrists, judges

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the meanings attributed by psychiatrists and judges to the Brazilian legislation on marijuana. The text is based on qualitative research from in-depth individual interviews. A total of four psychiatrists and six judges who work in the cities of Petrolina, Pernambuco, and Juazeiro, Bahia, the largest cities in the region popularly known as Polígono da Maconha [Marijuana Polygon]. The analysis draws on Clifford Geertz’s interpretive anthropology. The conclusions point out that the practices of cultivation, consumption, and sale of marijuana, in relation to which these professionals need to position themselves, reflect the broad symbolic structures that are constitutive of their fields of action: law and psychiatry. In these structures, the legal regulation of marijuana is mostly based on prohibitionism, with a priori undetermined and deteriorating consequences for the national system of justice, police, and health. The magistrates were more critical of the current legislation on this matter and favorable to its reform.

Author Biographies

Luzania Barreto Rodrigues, Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina, PE, Brasil

Antropóloga e professora associada do Colegiado de Ciências Sociais e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Política, Cultura e Ambiente (PoCAm) da Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (Univasf).

Paulo César Pontes Fraga, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brasil

Sociólogo e professor associado do Departamento de Sociologia e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF).

Marcílio Dantas Brandão, Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina, PE, Brasil

Sociólogo e professor adjunto do Colegiado de Ciências Sociais da Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (Univasf) e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE).

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Published

2024-02-06

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2024): JAN/FEV/MAR/ABR

Section

Articles

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