THE NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENT IN PRIVILEGED DRUG TRAFFICKING AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO REDUCE THE HIGH INCARCERATION RATES RESULTING FROM DRUG POLICY IN BRAZIL

Abstract

This article examines whether the Non-Prosecution Agreement (ANPP) can serve as an alternative to incarceration in cases of privileged drug trafficking within Brazilian drug policy, and whether its application requires more uniform criteria among the responsible bodies. The research follows the deductive method, with bibliographic review, legislative and jurisprudential analysis, and analysis of official data. The results show that the Drug Law, built under a logic of penal hardening, did not reach criminal organizations as intended; instead, it helped to incarcerate small-time traffickers and users, mostly young, black, poor, and with little schooling. Given this scenario, the study proposes privileged trafficking combined with the ANPP as a more proportionate path than the current prohibitionist model. The conclusion is that this alternative only works if there are uniform institutional and jurisprudential criteria, capable of reducing divergent decisions and preventing the repetition of the practices of the war on drugs, without this representing real progress in the fight against trafficking or in the protection of fundamental rights.