Senate committee dismisses unanimous lower house ban on new drugs

The Senate committee on constitutional and legal matters has refused to endorse a bill adding 33 new addictive drugs to the list of banned substances. The bill had already passed through the lower house of Parliament unanimously. The senators were concerned about the way in which the law would be enforced and that the bill includes no transition period before its introduction. The chairman of the committee, Social Democrat Miroslav Antl, said that the police would not be able to allow a degree of tolerance but must act on the prohibition. The Senate as a whole will vote on the bill on Wednesday once it has been discussed by its health committee. A number of the substances were recently banned in Poland, leading to a huge increase in their sale in the Czech Republic where they remained legal.