Legalization of cannabis in the Czech Republic

How soon will we see cannabis legalization in the Czech Republic? Sooner than you think. With cannabis already decriminalized and medicinal cannabis available since 2013, recreational legalization is one step closer.

Prague wants to legalize cannabis by 2023 and wants to coordinate with the Germans.

Cannabis criminalization in the Czech Republic

Hasn’t cannabis already been legalized in the Czech Republic? That’s the impression some tourists get when they visit the former communist state.

Prague’s cannabis culture is similar to that of Vancouver, British Columbia. Cannabis can be smelled everywhere in the city. Posters and stickers feature the iconic leaf and where to find it.

Over-the-counter stores and grocery stores sell foods and beverages that contain cannabinoids. Of course, these legal outlets do not sell products with more than 1% THC. But the cannabinoid market is already more accessible than in Canada or any of the legal US regimes.

If you are caught with up to 10 grams of cannabis flower, hash or oil, you will face a €500 fine. The same applies to the cultivation of up to five plants. Possession of larger amounts constitutes a criminal offense with possible imprisonment.

However, like many regions prior to legalization, the Czech Republic has a medicinal cannabis program. This allows people with a doctor’s prescription to buy cannabis from a pharmacy.

Growing cannabis is illegal in the Czech Republic, so they import from the Netherlands.

Czech consumption

Cannabis use is widespread in the Czech Republic. According to a report released in August 2022 by the National Monitoring Center on Drugs and Addiction, 30% of adults have tried cannabis. 8-9% or 800,000 people use it regularly.

Although not the numbers of Germany, on a per capita basis, people in the Czech Republic love their cannabis. The Czech Republic ranks first among all EU countries with the highest number of cannabis users in the 15-34 age group.

The Czech Republic is also debunking the long-abandoned notion that cannabis is a “gateway drug”. Despite such a high level of cannabis use, the Czech Republic does not rank first when it comes to hard drug use.

Legalization of cannabis in the Czech Republic

“Legal” cannabis in the Czech Republic

As is common among governments, including those of the former Eastern Bloc, the reasons for legalizing cannabis have nothing to do with your physical autonomy.

The legalization of cannabis in the Czech Republic is a means to solve the “failures” of decriminalization. According to the government, a black market still exists and there is no control over sales to young people.

But even more important and unsaid was the amount of non-taxable income generated by the Czech cannabis industry.

This is why governments are legalizing cannabis. People grow it anyway. You might as well control and tax it.

We can expect that in March 2023 the Drug Commissioner of the Czech Republic will present the first draft of the draft law. The idea is to treat cannabis like alcohol and cigarettes.

While Germany wants a closed single market to circumvent EU and UN rules, Prague is keen to work side by side with the Germans and supply each other.

Currently, like Germany, the Czech Republic is governed by a coalition of political parties. One of them is the Czech Pirate Party. They tweeted: “Legalization will make the Czech Republic a freer country.”

And that’s the most exciting part of cannabis legalization in the Czech Republic. When they say we want to treat it like alcohol and cigarettes, many of us may groan and roll our eyes.

But consider how does the Czech Republic deal with alcohol and cigarettes?

From the communist colony to free markets

The Czech Republic is not a landlocked libertarian paradise in Europe. But it’s not an authoritarian hellscape either.

Many former Eastern Bloc countries – like Ukraine – have struggled to emerge from the ashes of socialism.

Not Czech Republic. They were ready to secede in the 1960s when they were called Czechoslovakia. The Prague Spring was an attempt to liberalize the economy, but a Soviet invasion ended the movement.

Finally, the Velvet Revolution in 1989 ended socialist rule in the country and in 1993 the Czech Republic was born.

Treat cannabis like a Czech Pilsner

Of course, the Czech Republic suffers from the same democratic excesses as other countries. Like Republicans in the US, Czech politicians love to pay lip service to free markets, but then run deficits and introduce costly regulations.

Their medicinal cannabis program is a case in point. Many criticize the bureaucracy and find it easier to get their medical cannabis on the black market.

However, beer and cigarettes are lightly regulated compared to a nanny state like Canada or the state of California.

That’s not to say there aren’t government regulations for these products. And many people criticize the micromanagement of what constitutes a “proper” Czech Pilsner.

But the fact remains: beer is cheaper than mineral water.

The “experts” also consider the Czech Republic to have one of the worst tobacco controls in Europe. (Though the Czech government enacted an indoor smoking ban in 2017 after years of international criticism.)

There is a chance that the legalization of cannabis in the Czech Republic is as free and open as its alcohol policy.

And with Prague being the 5th most visited city in Europe and over 1% of the population working in the tourism industry, it would be prudent to liberalize the legalization of cannabis.

Suppose the government of the Czech Republic takes this laissez-faire approach to legalizing cannabis. If so, they could end up with the world’s freest cannabis market.

At the same time, the rest of the world subjects the non-toxic, natural herb to strict “public health controls.”

footnote(s)

https://english.radio.cz/anti-drug-coordinator-czechia-could-soon-legalise-sale-and-throating-marijuana-8760847

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_the_Czech_Republic

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3383744/

Czechs are fighting for access to legalized medical marijuana

https://www.adiktologie.cz/en/national-monitoring-centre-for-drugs-and-drug-addiction