CZECH REPUBLIC
The War on Drugs in the Czech Republic has been unremarkable. Changes in the legislation have made it the country with the most liberal drug policies in all of Europe. Drug policies have gone from extreme repression to decriminalization and back to repression, before possession of small amounts was decriminalized in 2010. All of this occurred within a time period of two decades. The beginning of the War on Drugs in the Czech Republic began when it was no longer unified with Slovakia.
Once the Czech Republic was no longer unified with Slovakia, the penalties for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs were abolished in 1990. It wasn’t until the end of the decade that politicians were pushing to re-criminalize possession of any amount of illegal drugs. Politicians were pushing for this because the media was creating a frenzy stating that for drug traffickers, the Czech Republic had become an international hub for drugs. By 1999 the possession of any and all drugs became illegal once again. Politicians believed that by re-criminalizing drugs and getting the relation between drugs and their country out of the media, it would help them gain entry into the European Union which they were pursuing.
With drugs now re-criminalized, the Czech National Drug Commission requested a scientific evaluation be taken on the impacts of criminalizing drugs again. The commission doubted the efficacy and effect of making all amounts of drug possession illegal. A total of five hypotheses were put in place for the researchers to investigate, after the introduction of the penalty for possession of illegal drugs. The hypotheses consisted of a decrease in availability of drugs, decrease in drug users, the amount of new users would decrease, negative health consequences will not increase, and there wouldn’t be an increase in social costs. When the study was complete it showed that there was no improvement after drugs had been re-criminalized. In fact there was an increase in amount of new users and significant increase in social cost when it comes to drug abuse. All in all re-criminalizing drugs was a failure as well as a total waste of money.
After a total failure in criminalizing drugs again, the Parliament of the Czech Republic decided to rank drugs according to their health risks. In 2010 a decision was made to approve new legislation by the Prime Minister Jan Fischer. This new legislation that was put in place, would decriminalize possession regarding the amount you can have for personal use. Although you are allowed to possess small amounts of drugs for personal use, you can still receive a warning from police. However if you are in possession of more than the amount that is allowed you are subject to either a prison sentence or a fine. For example if you have more than the allowed 15 grams of marijuana on your persons you can get a fine of CZK 15,000 or a prison sentence.
2011 omnibus study on prevalence drug use in the Czech Republic. A group of 1028 people the age of 15 and older were chosen using a quote sampling, and the final sample size included 901 adults ranging from ages 15-64 were used to find the prevalence rates.
-Cannabis is the illicit substance that is most often used in the Czech Republic.
-Around 24.9% of the people involved in the study said they had used cannabis.
-Close to 9% used it within the last 12 months.
-3.1% of the respondents have done it in the last 30 days.
Other most frequently used drugs:
-5.8% reported using ecstasy.
-Completing the list are LSD and amphetamine which are both at 2.1%
A different survey was taken in 2011 by the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). This survey included students ages 15-16 years old.
-42% of the students in this age group have said they have tried either marijuana or hashish
at least once.
-From 2007 to 2011 there was a decline of lifetime cannabis use from 45% to 42%.
-LSD was also most often used at a reported 5% and ecstasy followed at 3%.
Marijuana - 15 grams (or five plants)
Hashish - 5 grams
Magic mushrooms - 40 pieces
Peyote - 5 plants
LSD - 5 tablets
Ecstasy - 4 tablets
Amphetamine - 2 grams
Methamphetamine - 2 grams
Heroin - 1.5 grams
Coca - 5 plants
Cocaine - 1 gram
Once the Czech Republic was no longer unified with Slovakia, the penalties for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs were abolished in 1990. It wasn’t until the end of the decade that politicians were pushing to re-criminalize possession of any amount of illegal drugs. Politicians were pushing for this because the media was creating a frenzy stating that for drug traffickers, the Czech Republic had become an international hub for drugs. By 1999 the possession of any and all drugs became illegal once again. Politicians believed that by re-criminalizing drugs and getting the relation between drugs and their country out of the media, it would help them gain entry into the European Union which they were pursuing.
With drugs now re-criminalized, the Czech National Drug Commission requested a scientific evaluation be taken on the impacts of criminalizing drugs again. The commission doubted the efficacy and effect of making all amounts of drug possession illegal. A total of five hypotheses were put in place for the researchers to investigate, after the introduction of the penalty for possession of illegal drugs. The hypotheses consisted of a decrease in availability of drugs, decrease in drug users, the amount of new users would decrease, negative health consequences will not increase, and there wouldn’t be an increase in social costs. When the study was complete it showed that there was no improvement after drugs had been re-criminalized. In fact there was an increase in amount of new users and significant increase in social cost when it comes to drug abuse. All in all re-criminalizing drugs was a failure as well as a total waste of money.
After a total failure in criminalizing drugs again, the Parliament of the Czech Republic decided to rank drugs according to their health risks. In 2010 a decision was made to approve new legislation by the Prime Minister Jan Fischer. This new legislation that was put in place, would decriminalize possession regarding the amount you can have for personal use. Although you are allowed to possess small amounts of drugs for personal use, you can still receive a warning from police. However if you are in possession of more than the amount that is allowed you are subject to either a prison sentence or a fine. For example if you have more than the allowed 15 grams of marijuana on your persons you can get a fine of CZK 15,000 or a prison sentence.
2011 omnibus study on prevalence drug use in the Czech Republic. A group of 1028 people the age of 15 and older were chosen using a quote sampling, and the final sample size included 901 adults ranging from ages 15-64 were used to find the prevalence rates.
-Cannabis is the illicit substance that is most often used in the Czech Republic.
-Around 24.9% of the people involved in the study said they had used cannabis.
-Close to 9% used it within the last 12 months.
-3.1% of the respondents have done it in the last 30 days.
Other most frequently used drugs:
-5.8% reported using ecstasy.
-Completing the list are LSD and amphetamine which are both at 2.1%
A different survey was taken in 2011 by the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). This survey included students ages 15-16 years old.
-42% of the students in this age group have said they have tried either marijuana or hashish
at least once.
-From 2007 to 2011 there was a decline of lifetime cannabis use from 45% to 42%.
-LSD was also most often used at a reported 5% and ecstasy followed at 3%.
Marijuana - 15 grams (or five plants)
Hashish - 5 grams
Magic mushrooms - 40 pieces
Peyote - 5 plants
LSD - 5 tablets
Ecstasy - 4 tablets
Amphetamine - 2 grams
Methamphetamine - 2 grams
Heroin - 1.5 grams
Coca - 5 plants
Cocaine - 1 gram
Birrel, Ian. “High time to end this immoral drugs war.” The Independent. Bright Blue tomorrow.
28 April 2014. 29 April 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/high-time-to-end-this-immoral-drugs-war- 9299168.html
“Country overview Czech Republic.” European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
EMCDDA. 28 May 2013. 29 April 2014. http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/country-overviews/cz
Monts, Craig. “Czech Republic’s Drug Laws.” expats.cz. Howlings s.r.o. 20 March 2013. 29 April
2014. http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-culture/czech-republic-s-drug-laws/
Mravcik, V., Grohmannova, K., Chomynova. “Czech Republic Data and Policies.” Get The Facts,
DrugWarFacts.com. Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. 2012. 29 April 2014.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/International_Czech_Republic#sthash.k5vZ8zPx.1MqANiFE.dpbs
28 April 2014. 29 April 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/high-time-to-end-this-immoral-drugs-war- 9299168.html
“Country overview Czech Republic.” European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
EMCDDA. 28 May 2013. 29 April 2014. http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/country-overviews/cz
Monts, Craig. “Czech Republic’s Drug Laws.” expats.cz. Howlings s.r.o. 20 March 2013. 29 April
2014. http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-culture/czech-republic-s-drug-laws/
Mravcik, V., Grohmannova, K., Chomynova. “Czech Republic Data and Policies.” Get The Facts,
DrugWarFacts.com. Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. 2012. 29 April 2014.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/International_Czech_Republic#sthash.k5vZ8zPx.1MqANiFE.dpbs