Czech Govt Allows 5 Cannabis Plants For Personal Use From 2010

[FruityBud]

The interim Czech government, led by chief statistician-turned-Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Monday took another step towards making casual marijuana smoking a worry-free affair.

Fischer’s cabinet defined what constitutes “small amounts” of cannabis for personal use, clarifying the country’s new penal code that from next year decriminalizes cultivation and possession of the plant by individuals.

As of Jan. 1 ordinary Czechs can grow up to five marijuana plants or have several marijuana cigarettes in their pockets without fear of criminal prosecution. Previously what constituted a small amount was not specified and the police and courts loosely interpreted the penal code case by case, often resulting in incarceration of home growers.

The government’s approval of a table specifying what amounts of drugs are permissible is a vital part of the country’s new penal code that was last year approved by both houses of parliament and in January of this year was signed into law by President Vaclav Klaus. Without the just-approved table of amounts that will be used by Czech police, the January decriminalization of the drug would be difficult to judge by courts and investigators.

The plant still remains illegal, however, though from the new year possession of five or less plants is merely a misdemeanour, and fines for possession will be on par with penalties for parking violations.

The Czech decision is in sync with the country’s liberal, Dutch-like social attitudes and laissez-faire approach to civil liberties.

There is also an interesting lifestyle footnote: Czechs are Europe’s biggest drinkers of hops-infused beer and are also the continent’s leaders in smoking pot.

Czechs consume 320 pints of the golden brew per person annually. Also 22% of Czechs between the age of 16 and 34 smoke cannabis at least once a year, according to a recent report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

There may be a botanical reason behind the Czech enthusiasm for the vices.

Hops, a thumb-sized, bulbous, leafy green flower which is used to give beer its bitter taste, and the similarly shaped, sized and colored cannabis flower are the two sole members of the Cannabaceae family of plants.

Czech decriminalization of small amounts of cannabis possession does not, however provide greater clarity to the country’s policy on medical marijuana, an issue which is gaining momentum both in Europe, in North America and elsewhere around the globe.

“Konopi Je Lek”, a Czech non-profit organization promoting medical marijuana recently co-founded the country’s first marijuana dispensary in Prague despite there being no medical marijuana laws on the country’s books.

The grand opening of the dispensary on Sept. 28 (The Day of Czech Statehood and the holiday of the country’s patron Saint Vaclav, or Wenceslas), was attended by Prague’s Mayor Dr. Pavel Bem, who is also a physician and proponent of sensible use of the herb.

However since the dispensary opened, Prague police have raided it, hauling away the cannabis meant for patients, and the dispensary is now looking for growers to help restock its supply.

Some Czech courts in some cases make exemptions to current law to allow for medical use and cultivation of cannabis, sparking legal battles.

The murky state of medical marijuana in the Czech Republic is akin to the legal limbo of the plant’s medicinal uses elsewhere in Europe.

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[HUMALIEN42]

Good for you Czech Republic ! Bad for America though, we still suck here! I would love to see the day that Americans were so understanding but their too stubborn for change. Here that Obama? Change? What change??? Americans are really missing out on their God given right by
simple means. The American government has no clue just how much money is exported to so many other countries for marijuana. I have read that it's as much as 900 million per year, but I'd say more. That's quite a bit of money out of the American pocket every year!!! Well, back to the point GO CZECHS! Whoohoo!

 

[viper1951]

America is getting better about it's use but the worst part are the old antic cronies still in office once we get rid of this parasites then we can make more and better advancements on it .in the last couple of years we have made good progress but even that is still fairly slow the problem lies with the old and senile who are in office they refuse to read and become more aware of it's benefits until we finally vote all of these life time F__KUPS out of office progress will be slow. some day it will happen but first you have to get people off there butts to get out and vote I mean how hard is it to put a check in a little box or how can putting that check in the box be so damn intimidating to all of those who don't vote this is the big problem as we always have the lowest voter turn out of any country on this planet and we are suppose to be the greatest country. bull Crap Iraq has a better voter turn out then we do 80 to 90 percent and we have what 20 to 30 percent turnout this is our problem viper 1951

 

[HUMALIEN42]

I just don't understand our country 'US', at all. They allow people to sell alcohol and cigaretts, the two deadliest drugs available but we can't touch a doobie or it will kill us! So many people get killed each year from the both of them it's ridiculous. How many people do we hear on the news that got killed or died from smoking marijuana? I've never heard of one in my life and I'm 43! I saw something on youtube about a cop overdosing on brownies or something. It's like how many damn brownies did he eat though huh? No I say, this prohibition on cannabis has to stop sometime! It seems to me they take away what people want just for spite! Just because they can. They know if they got in trouble for it , they would get out of it because their all rich and powerfull. We on the other hand have to scrap for pennies till we're blue in the face, and after a long hard day at work we can't light up a small little joint to ease the
terrible pains we went though all day. If they were in our shoes I think they would see it differently, but until their in our shoes we just have to live in fear of our lives from the law. I mean how much pot would it take to actually hurt someone on a daily or weekly basis? I'll tell you what. When I was in 7th and 8th grade I had terrible grades! At 13 I started smoking my first marijuana. At 14 and my first year of high school My grades actually improved dramatically! I went from straight F's to C's in at least two different subjects, Math and English. And if you know school these are two of the hardest subjects! I mean it wasn't a miracle but I was happy about it. I think so little is known about the drug, more research is needed than they have done!