Press release: New campaign for rational cannabis regulation supports not only homegrowing but also regulated market in hashtag#Czechia

On Wednesday, 4 September, the NGO Rational Regulation introduced a nationwide campaign in support of the draft bill on comprehensive regulation of cannabis, which was written by a group of experts led by former national coordinator and current strategic advisor to Czech PM Jindrich Voboril at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. Along with this, the association is also pushing for an amendment to the Criminal Code that will put an end to the absurdly long sentences for cannabis.

The aim of the campaign is to open up the debate among the professional and lay public on cannabis regulation through short videos, while appealing to the political representation to address this topic urgently.

“Addiction policy without ideology and based on facts will only be effective if there is support for substitutes in the form of less risky substances on regulated market. At the same time, the state needs to provide funds for prevention,” says Jindřich Vobořil, a former drug coordinator and chairman of the think tank Rational Addiction Policies. He adds: “That is why, even before I left my position as national coordinator, I proposed to the government to adopt such legislative changes in regard to cannabis that would reduce the availability of this substance to minors and limit the scope of the dangerous illegal market.”

Dominik Stroukal, a member of the government’s National Economic Council (NERV), also supports the regulation. “As with other repressive measures, we are talking about the costs of law-making and enforcement in the case of cannabis prohibition. It doesn’t sound like anything huge in general, but in total it has already run into the hundreds of millions, maybe even billions. Criminal code and sentencing principles need to be adjusted, and, in the area of drug policy, we need to introduce a legal regulated cannabis market,” Stroukal lists the changes that need to be made.

Pavel Kubů MD, the chairman of the patient association KOPAC and a physician, is also clear on the issue of comprehensive regulation of cannabis: “We demand legislative protection for patients and their families in the case of self-supply of cannabis, because the state has long been unable to ensure the availability of medical cannabis to patients in need. The 2023 report on illicit drugs in the Czech Republic estimates the number of people who have used cannabis exclusively for self-medication in the last year at 250 000. However, only 8 037 patients were dispensed cannabis for medical use in the same year. This leaves more than 240 000 people relying solely on illegal self-supply from unofficial sources,” Kubů explains (…)

 

 

The state’s current repressive approach to cannabis has proven to be dysfunctional and counterproductive. Both possession and cultivation for personal use are criminalized and a large proportion of users are dependent on the illegal market, which entails significant negative health and social impacts.

For several decades, when cannabis has been illegal in the Czech Republic, it has become clear that repression does not work – it does not reduce its availability or the number of users and does not protect the health of citizens . On the contrary, it supports the existence of an illegal market and risky use, unnecessarily criminalizes small growers and is not even economically worthwhile – it burdens the health sector, the police and the courts , without the state having production and distribution under control. At the same time, cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug among adults in the Czech Republic. ¹ 22-37 percent have tried it sometime in their life and 7-10 percent of people over 15 years of age have tried it in the last 12 months. And a recent poll found that 66 percent of citizens want the state’s approach to cannabis to change. ²

Based on data from expert studies and the experience of countries that have relaxed their cannabis policy, we are convinced that it is necessary to change the state’s dysfunctional policy towards cannabis and classify it as a regulated substance – similar to alcohol or tobacco. At the same time, ensure revenue for the state budget by taxing it, when these revenues will primarily be used for prevention and education.

Our country needs political decisions based on facts and scientific knowledge. Ideology and prejudice are far more harmful to society, health and the economy than reasonable and socially acceptable regulation.

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¹ Source: National Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addiction: Report on Illegal Drugs in the Czech Republic 2023, Prague 2023.
² Source: Behavio: Public Opinion Survey, 7 December 2022.

Learn more at

https://cannathemag.com/the-campaign-for-rational-cannabis-regulation/

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