Brazil’s Supreme Court has voted to decriminalize possession of cannabis for personal use.

While this ruling does not legalize cannabis for personal use, it may aim to reduce the penalties for possession.

The decision was delivered on Tuesday, with eight of the eleven top court judges voting in favor of keeping possession of small amounts of cannabis as an “illicit act” that does not warrant criminal prosecution.

The judges are set to discuss today the amount of cannabis that distinguishes a casual user from a trafficker, with proposed thresholds of up to 60 grams.

Lawyers defending a prisoner who received an additional sentence for concealing three grams of cannabis in his cell brought the case to the Supreme Court, with the trial beginning in 2015 and facing multiple interruptions, according to Radio France Internationale.

Activists and legal scholars have long awaited the Supreme Court’s ruling, arguing that current legislation often results in users being convicted of trafficking for possessing even small amounts of drugs. Critics contend that these individuals are then incarcerated in overcrowded prisons, where they are compelled to join prison gangs.

Brazilian drug law enacted in 2006 criminalizes buying, possessing, transporting, or bringing drugs for personal use, though with a light penalty. While it eliminated prison sentences for personal use, it did not specify the quantity that differentiates personal use from trafficking, the latter carrying a severe prison term.

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