Política de morte: a "guerra às drogas" e os fundamentos ideológicos do genocídio negro no Brasil

Abstract

The object of analysis in this study was the ideological foundations that permeate prohibitionist drug policy in Brazil and in Rio Grande do Norte (RN). The general objective was to analyze the relationship between the historical use of psychoactive substances and prohibitionism as an expression of structural racism in Brazil. The specific objectives were to analyze the ideological foundations underlying prohibitionist drug policy as an expression of conservatism and its consequences in Brazilian society and in RN; to examine data regarding violence and incarceration of the Black population in light of Brazilian drug policy; and to historically analyze the consequences of the “war on drugs” policy in Brazil. The investigation process was guided by a holistic perspective to grasp social relations, contributing to a critical reflection on the reality studied. The research had a quantitative and qualitative focus, with data gathered through literature review and document analysis. Among the findings, we identified that the side effects of psychoactive substance use, since the colonial period, are determined based on moral and hegemonically racist values, without scientific foundation, and that behind the “war on drugs” lies a “politics of death” that uses the prohibitionist discourse to justify mass incarceration, criminalization, and the death of Black people. Furthermore, in Brazil, bolsonarism strengthens the ideological dissemination of multiple strategies of criminalization, segregation, and increased violence, in favor of maintaining capitalism. In the context of Rio Grande do Norte, a state of latent public insecurity, we criticize the oligarchies that contribute to the suffering of the Black population in the face of structural racism. We conclude with the assertion that fighting against the “war on drugs” is fighting against Black genocide, which requires the strengthening of the anti-capitalist struggle.