New campaign aims to legalize, regulate Czech cannabis market

A new campaign, Je to OK! (translating to “It’s OK!”), led by former national anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil, advocates for the legalization of cannabis in the Czech Republic. The campaign aims to bring attention to the preventive and financial benefits of a regulated marijuana market. 

The project emphasizes the need to protect patients, decriminalize cannabis, and safeguard children. Notably, Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek expressed his support for the campaign's efforts at a government meeting today.

"I've said over and over that I'm interested in the medical side of cannabis," Válek said, acknowledging the drug’s positive medicinal effects. He emphasized the need for patients to have access to the medication they need, whether through prescription or self-cultivation. 

However, according to Pavel Kubů, chairman of the patient association for cannabis treatment KOPAC, the state currently cannot provide medical cannabis for long-term patients, and many are unable to grow the medicine themselves. This has led to a discrepancy between the estimated 250,000 people who use cannabis for self-medication and the 8,037 patients who were issued medical cannabis in the last year, according to a report by the National Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addiction.

The campaign also highlights the high penalties for cannabis-related offenses and the financial costs associated with court cases and imprisonment. Dominik Stroukal, a member of the Government's National Economic Council (NERV), estimates these costs to be in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of crowns. NERV says that legalization would reduce the black market of cannabis sales and production. 

While Válek supports the relaxation of the cannabis market, he stresses the need for a serious approach that considers the harmfulness of the substance and the vulnerability of young people. "For me, it is a priority that people under the age of 18 – ideally under the age of 21 – do not get access to these substances, because that is the time when the brain develops," he said.

Vobořil and a team of experts in 2023 prepared a draft law for the regulation of cannabis, which includes taxation, rules for legal cultivation, the operation of cannabis clubs, and licensed sales and exports. It would allow people to purchase up to 5 grams daily, but they would need to register in a database first. The government’s program statement also outlines plans for regulating addictive substances, with the degree of harmfulness determining the level of regulation.

According to Vobořil, a regulated market for cannabis would allow for better control and prevention. He also believes that the state could generate billions of crowns in taxes each year. "I am not giving up. There is a chance," Vobořil said in the past about the potential introduction of a regulated cannabis market.

The government approved an anti-addiction plan that includes the implementation of a strictly regulated cannabis market, a recommendation that NERV also backs.

In April this year, Germany became the ninth country in the world to legalize (partially) the use of recreational cannabis.