Influência do Tema 506 do STF na prática policial de classificação das ocorrências de tráfico de drogas: uma análise empírica em Itabira/MG

This article analyzes the influence of Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) Theme 506 on police practices in classifying drug-trafficking incidents in the municipality of Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study addresses whether the STF's establishment of objective parameters for the relative presumption of personal cannabis use produced observable changes in police records. A qualitative-quantitative, empirical and documentary approach was adopted, using a before-and-after comparative design, without a control group and without seeking to establish a causal relationship. A total of 524 administrative records classified as drug-trafficking incidents were examined, comprising 393 records from 2021 to 2023 and 131 records from August 2024 to August 2025. The analysis focused on incidents involving cannabis exclusively, the forms in which the substance was presented, police detentions, and records subsequently classified as Terms of Detailed Occurrence (TCO) or reclassified from drug trafficking. The findings indicate a proportional reduction in incidents exclusively involving cannabis between the periods analyzed, as well as a decrease in the proportion of police detentions subsequently recorded as TCOs or reclassified. The changes observed, however, were not consistent enough to support the conclusion that a structural transformation in police practices can be attributed to Theme 506. The lack of systematic and reliable data on the weight of the substance also prevents a direct assessment of the application of the 40-gram threshold established by the STF. It is concluded that the data analyzed do not, by themselves, support the assertion that Theme 506 produced a substantive transformation in police classification practices, although they provide relevant evidence for empirically monitoring its implementation.