Seeds in the Hold
Beginning in the 16th century, Portuguese ships crossing the Atlantic carried cânhamo—hemp used for rope, sails, and naval rigging. Alongside these industrial seeds came another: maconha, brought by enslaved Africans who used it for ritual, medicine, and memory. Long before Brazil had a nation or name, cannabis had already taken root in its soil.
Two Faces of the Same Plant
By the 1770s, colonial governors promoted hemp cultivation for the Portuguese Navy, while Afro-Brazilian workers quietly smoked or infused the psychoactive variety in the fields. Cânhamo represented empire and economy; maconha represented resistance and spirituality. The same plant carried two meanings—one privileged, one persecuted.
Cachimbo da Paz
Indigenous Brazilians soon adopted what they called fumo de Angola (“smoke of Angola”), incorporating it into rituals and healing practices. For plantation owners, this was intolerable—anything that offered rest or joy to enslaved people was viewed as rebellion. Yet the practice endured, spreading across cultural lines despite repression.
Cannabis Among Elites
Cannabis was not limited to the poor or enslaved. In colonial circles, Queen Carlota reportedly brewed cannabis tea for menstrual relief, while 19th-century physicians prescribed Cigarros Índios Grimault—imported cannabis cigarettes marketed for asthma and insomnia. Poets and intellectuals praised its creative and introspective effects, though public morality masked private use.
The First Ban on Earth
In 1830, Rio de Janeiro’s Código de Posturas issued the world’s first known cannabis prohibition, banning pito do pango, a joint commonly smoked in Black communities. Sellers faced a 20-milréis fine, while users—mainly enslaved or freed Africans—faced three days in jail. The penalties reflected Brazil’s racial hierarchy: merchants were fined; the enslaved were punished.
Science and Stigma
By the late 19th century, Brazilian newspapers and medical journals turned maconha into a symbol of decay and danger. Physicians framed it as a cause of insanity and crime, associating use with “African degeneracy.” These early pseudoscientific narratives fused racism with emerging psychiatry, shaping the nation’s first “war on weed.”
Erasure and Criminalization
Brazil moved quickly to align with global prohibition. Decree 20.930 (1932) grouped cannabis with opium, and Decree-Law 891 (1938) banned cultivation outright. During the Vargas era, hemp was erased from agricultural records, and maconha became strictly a police term—a complete inversion of its dual colonial identity.
Resistance in Rhythm
Even under prohibition, the plant persisted in music and ritual. Samba composers, dockworkers, and spiritual practitioners in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro encoded maconha into lyrics and folktales. What the state criminalized, the people ritualized—keeping cannabis alive through song, community, and coded language.
Full Circle
Today, cannabis remains technically illegal in Brazil, though the Supreme Federal Court (STF) protects limited personal use. Congress continues to debate reform, and ANVISA’s stalled medical frameworks lag behind global standards. Still, from the 16th-century docks to modern courts, Brazil’s cannabis story remains one of contradiction—state repression versus cultural endurance.
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— Nugg Notes
SOURCES;
• Jean Marcel Carvalho França, História da maconha no Brasil (São Paulo: Três Estrelas, 2015). • Código de Posturas da Câmara Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, 1830 – item que proíbe o pito do pango. • Vera Malaguti Batista (org.), Maconha: entre a proibição e a ciência (Rio: Revan). • Elisaldo Carlini, “A história da maconha no Brasil” (textos reunidos sobre usos terapêuticos e criminalização). • Fiocruz, “Maconha já foi remédio no Brasil do século XIX” – matéria sobre Cigarros Índios/Grimault. • UERJ – Revista Periferia, artigo “A proibição da maconha no Brasil e suas raízes históricas”. • Saúde e Sociedade / SciELO, “Política de drogas no Brasil: da proibição à regulação”. • Decreto 20.930/1932 (Brasil) – inclui cannabis indica entre substâncias tóxicas. • Decreto-Lei 891/1938 – amplia controle e veda cultivo privado. • Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, Brasil: uma biografia – contexto de escravidão, racismo e policiamento de costumes.
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