Tag: czech

Czech President Officially Signs Cannabis Legalization Measure

Written by Johnny Green on July 20, 2025. Posted in Policy.

It’s official – Czech Republic President Petr Pavel signed the nation’s historic cannabis legalization measure into law earlier this week. The measure, which will permit adults over the age of 21 to cultivate, possess, and consume cannabis, will take effect on January 1st, 2026.

On May 30th, Czechia’s Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic approved the adult-use cannabis legalization measure. The European nation’s Senate then approved the measure a little over two weeks ago, sending it to the president’s desk for his signature.

Starting next year, Czech adults over the age of 21 can cultivate up to three plants in their private residences. Additionally, they can possess up to 100 grams of cannabis in private, and up to 25 grams in public spaces. Public consumption will remain prohibited.

“The reform distinguishes between cannabis possession and more serious drug offenses. Possession of four to five plants is considered a misdemeanor, while possession of more than 200 grams or cultivation of more than five plants remains punishable.” stated Cannabis Industrie in its original reporting (translated to English).

“A notable change is that possessing cannabis for another person, provided it’s within the permitted quantities, is no longer a criminal offense. The Czech government is pursuing a more realistic and less punitive drug policy.” the outlet also reported.

The Czech Republic is now set to implement a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure, joining Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa in doing so. Regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials are operating in the Netherlands and Switzerland, although recreational cannabis remains prohibited at the national level in those nations.

Unfortunately, current European Union agreements continue to prohibit national recreational cannabis sales, such as what is occurring in Uruguay and Canada, and will eventually occur in South Africa. Pilot trials and cultivation associations are permitted in EU member nations. However, there are currently no plans for pilot trials or associations in the Czech Republic.

Czech Cannabis Legalization To Take Effect On January 1, 2026

Written by Johnny Green on July 3, 2025. Posted in Policy.

In late May 2025, the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic voted to approve a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure. The basic provisions of the measure would permit adults 21 years old and older to cultivate up to three plants in their private residences and possess up to 100 grams of dried cannabis flower.

Longtime Czech cannabis activist Lukas Hurt announced today in a social media post that the measure was also approved by the country’s Senate, and the measure will take effect at the start of 2026:

The approved measure also lowers penalties for individuals caught with amounts over the permitted personal legal possession limit. The approved measure in the Czech Republic does not legalize recreational cannabis commerce.

Czechia is set to join Malta, Luxembourg, and Germany on the list of European nations that have approved a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure. Uruguay, Canada, and South Africa have also approved national recreational cannabis legalization measures.

It is also worth noting that two dozen states in the United States have adopted adult-use cannabis legalization measures, although non-hemp cannabis remains prohibited at the federal level in the U.S.

Additionally, regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials are operating in the Netherlands and Switzerland, and court decisions have been rendered in a handful of other nations around the globe that provide adult consumers some level of legal protection, although those policies are not the same as the legal protection afforded by an approved national legalization measure.

elderly man watering cannabis plants outside of the czech republic ministry of health in prague

Cannabis Advocates Demand Further Pardons In Czech Republic

Written by Johnny Green on May 15, 2025. Posted in Policy.

Cannabis advocates staged a peaceful protest today in Prague, Czechia, outside the nation’s Ministry of Health in Palacký Square. The protest, which involved publicly displaying ten cannabis plants as seen in the featured image of this article and the social media post below, was followed by a march.

Longtime Czech cannabis activist Lukas Hurt posted the image and description of the advocacy action on his LinkedIn page:

“If you can, please join us tomorrow afternoon in the heart of Prague, where my former high school classmate Jan Látal and my colleague from citizen initiative Rodiny proti prohibici (Family Against Prohibition), matěj hollan, and myself are organizing #Konopný #czeXperiment. Join us in a simple act of solidarity: water our 10 cannabis plants in the middle of busy Palacký Square to express support for cannabis prisoners.” Mr. Hurt wrote on his LinkedIn page the day before in a separate post.

“The symbolic watering of our beautiful plants right in the center of Czech capital begins at 5:00 p.m., followed by a peaceful walk to Prague Castle around 6:00 p.m. There, we will thank President Petr Pavel for the first pardons granted to three “cannabis granddads” and symbolically call on the Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu ČR to quickly adopt the criminal code reform, which is now going into the 3rd, final reading and which includes crucial changes in cannabis repression.” the Czech cannabis activist also wrote.

(photo credit: Zuzana Kratochvilova)

In March 2025, Czech President Petr Pavel issued pardons to three men who were imprisoned for cultivating cannabis. All three men who received pardons from President Pavel were over the age of 70 and had initially received prison sentences ranging from 3-4 years before eventually receiving their pardons.

In recent years, a major push has been underway in the Czech Republic to modernize the nation’s cannabis policies to permit cannabis use and other activities by adults. Currently, cannabis is legal for adult use at a national level in Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa.

Starting on April 1st, 2025, all GPs in the Czech Republic can prescribe medical cannabis for chronic pain. certain specialist doctors could do so (oncologists, neurologists, algeziologists). Doctors in the Czech Republic prescribed 318.7 kilograms of medicinal cannabis in 2024 to an average of roughly 3,300 patients per month.

Additionally, starting in July of this year, the Czech Republic wants to regulate sales of cannabis products containing up to one percent THC, but the gouvernement is still waiting for the EU’s opinion and the nation’s traditional hemp sector is in strong opposition to this change because there is a widespread fear of licences fees, ban on advertisement, and other strict limitations designed originally for psychoactive substances such as kratom or HHC, not low-THC hemp products.

A team of researchers affiliated with Charles University in the Czech Republic and the University of New South Wales in Australia recently collaborated on a study that examined the potential ‘social benefit’ effects of adult-use cannabis legalization in Czechia.

“Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug worldwide. In countries with repressive drug policies, the costs of its prohibition plausibly outweigh the benefits.” the researchers stated in their study, the findings of which were published in the Journal of Cost-Benefit Analysis.

“We conduct a cost–benefit analysis of cannabis legalization and regulation in the Czech Republic, taking into consideration alternative scenarios designed using parameters from the known effects of cannabis legalization in selected U.S. states, Canada, and Uruguay. Our analysis focuses on tax revenues, law enforcement costs, the cost of treatment and harm reduction, and the value of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs).” the team of international researchers stated about their Czech-focused study’s methodology.

“Under all the projected scenarios, the identified benefits of legalizing cannabis for personal use exceed the potential costs. The estimated net social benefit of legalization is in the range of 34.4 to 107.6 million EUR per year (or between 3.2 and 10.1 EUR per capita), depending on the size of the cannabis market and the development of cannabis prices after legalization.” the researchers concluded.