Moral policies and ideas: the possession of cannabis for personal use in Chile (1973-2015)

Abstract

In this article we describe drug policy in Chile in relation to the possession of illicit substances for personal consumption, specifically cannabis. To do so, we articulate ideational theory – through a conceptual proposal, the cognitive-normative scheme that predominates in the country’s political leadership – with the perspective of moral policies. The objective is to show how the cognitive-normative scheme that was formed in the Chilean leadership in  the 1970s, when the drug problem entered the legislative agenda, has endured throughout the evolution of drug policy. We examine the processes that resulted in laws 17.934 of 1973, 18.403 dictated in 1985, 19.366 of 1995 and 20.000 promulgated in 2005. Finally, we analyze the attempt to regulate the possession and personal cultivation of cannabis during 2014-2015.