Government preparing U-turn on soft drug policy, experts warn repression could backfire
The Babiš government is preparing a major tightening of the country’s drug policy, marking a significant departure from the more liberal approach pursued in recent years. The proposals on the table include a clamp down on kratom sales, tightening regulations on cannabis growers and users, and expanding the powers of municipalities and police.
Just months after a new regulation came into effect classifying kratom as a psychomodulatory substance that can only be sold to people over 18 and only in special licensed stores, the Babiš administration has signaled a change-of-course on soft drugs and psychomodulatory substances.
At a press briefing on pending changes, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš argued that the Czech Republic is “an anomaly” in Europe, where the sale of kratom is banned in a number of countries.
He made it clear that his government would not pursue the kind of liberal drug policy that his predecessors in office favored.
“The Czech Republic is the only EU member state that has created a legal and state-regulated consumer market in kratom. Kratom is a children's drug, kratom is filth. We have kratom stores licensed by the state, we have state regulations on packaging, and a state-approved list of venders. The state has created a legal framework for kratom sales. We are a kratom hub. Although the restrictions made have been an improvement, children still have access to kratom. I think it is time to admit that the lenient approach of the previous government was a mistake and I want to state quite clearly that this government will not be a government that legalizes drugs.”
This week the prime minister announced that his cabinet intends to introduce 18 measures across four laws aimed at strengthening controls on addictive substances and improving public safety.
No details have as yet been officially reveled, but according to information obtained by the Czech News Agency (ČTK), the proposals on the table include removing kratom from the market altogether –as opposed to raising the purchase age to 21 a proposal that was also floated in recent weeks, banning CBD products, and taking a tougher approach toward cannabis growers following the reduction of the permitted THC content in plants from one percent to 0.3 percent. Other suggested measures are re-criminalizing certain activities, speeding up the process of adding substances to the list of banned drugs, and strengthening the powers of municipalities and the police.
The framework for these changes has already been set. In late April the government established an inter-ministerial working group involving representatives of several ministries, the police, customs administration and inspection authorities. Several weeks later, the prime minister announced the transfer of drug policy coordination from the Office of the Government to the Ministry of Health. The government’s drug policy coordinator Pavel Bém was sacked in a move that signaled an end to the liberal policy on soft drugs.
Although the decisions raised concerns among experts and addiction service organizations the government is ploughing ahead, stressing the need to protect minors and pointing to the growing number of children who collapse as a result of kratom overdoze, combining the substance with pills or alcohol.
Addiction expert Viktor Mravcik says he greatly regrets the fact that the policy of regulating psychomodulatory substances –which has served as an inspiration to other countries leaning towards a liberal drug policy – has not been given a proper chance in the Czech Republic. He expressed the hope that the government would recognize that the question is not whether to ban or regulate psychoactive substances but how to best regulate them.
“Prohibition is a system that was established here some 70 years ago, based on the level of knowledge available at the time. Back then, steam locomotives were still running—imagine if we based our health or social policies today on ideas from that era. It has been proven beyond doubt that bans are ineffective and cause more harm than good,” he said.
The working group, which is overseen, by the prime minister is expected to deliver the respective legislative proposals frame-working the government’s addiction policy by the end of July.
The changes are likely to spark heated debate in Parliament where some opposition parties are already warning about the consequences of what they describe as a "brutal turnaround" in the country’s drug policy, predicting that it will only drive consumers to the black market.
Some of the experts who have been working on the government’s drug strategy have handed in their notice. The prime minister is urging those who remain to give the new drug policy a chance, saying that he is determined to pour money into prevention, counselling centres and outreach programs and will personally intervene if the changes fail to produce positive results.
