A solid majority of Brazilians consulted in a recent poll think marijuana smoking should remain a criminal offense, the Angus Reid Global Monitor reported Tuesday. The poll was done by Datafolha and published in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

Psicotropicus banner promoting marijuana (maconha) legalization

In 2002, Brazilian lawmakers approved legislation that created alternative punishments, such as community service or drug treatment, for use of the drug. At the time, Brazil's National Antidrug Secretariat defended the decision. "Smoking marijuana is not a crime," said Paulo Roberto Uchôa, head of the secretariat. "A drug user is someone who needs counseling and information. The ones who traffic drugs are the criminals."

In 2005, Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil, an internationally recognized musician, went public with his marijuana habit, saying he had smoked for years. "I believe that drugs should be treated like pharmaceuticals, legalized, although under the same regulations and monitoring as medicines," he said then.

Now, if the Brazilian people can only catch up with their government. Usually, it's the other way around.