First-ever Prague hemp fair attracts thousands
Among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic enjoys the reputation of a safe haven for cannabis users, with more than half of the country’s adult population admitting to have used the drug. But it was only this past weekend that Prague hosted its first international hemp fair.
I asked some of the visitors what they came to see. Mikuláš is a 16-year-old secondary school student from Prague.
“We are with our class but we would have come anyway. It’s great to see all the things here, the people are very nice. I would consider buying something, like a grow kit, but I cannot afford it right now. But I would if I had the opportunity.”
22-year-old Kateřina made the trip to the fair all the way from Moravia.
“We wanted to come and have a look around the fair; it’s the first, so we were interested to see what they would offer - clothes, cosmetics, those drinks, and things like that. We like it here, there are many things – they show you how to grow hemp, and the clothes are interesting, too. The seeds are really expensive, so I’m looking at the pipes.”
And an elderly man, who would not reveal his name, says cannabis deserves more appreciation.
The fair offered everything from cannabis seeds and fertilizers through grow kits to pipes, rolling papers and vaporizers as well as clothes and medicine made from hemp. Nearly 130 exhibitors from around the world took part. Jiří Tomaško is the man who put it all together.
“The idea came around five years ago, when my friends and I were travelling around Europe. We went to many hemp fairs, we met many exhibitors who became our friends, and we have been thinking for a really long time about having it here. Now the right time has come, we pursued the idea, and it’s here.”
But cannabis is still illegal in the Czech Republic. Personal possession up to a certain amount has been decriminalized but when people buy some of the products that are sold here, they obviously buy it for something illegal. How does that work?
“There is nothing illegal about this business. It’s allowed everywhere, even in the Czech Republic, in small shops, and so on. Even the seeds, they don’t have any big amounts of [active substance] THC, so there is no reason to view that as a criminal act.”
The organizers met with the police on Tuesday. What was the meeting about and how did it go?
“We just assured the police that we were not going to sell any hemp plants in here, only products used for growing or made from hemp. We just wanted to let the police know we are not organizing anything illegal here. The fair is being held in the Czech Republic for the first time, so they didn’t know what to expect, but now that they have already been, I don’t think they found any problems. So I hope it will go well.”
And it went well – for the most part. Despite popular belief, growing marihuana is still illegal under the new drug legislation that came into force in January, although smoking and possessing the drug for personal use is only a misdemeanour.
The fair was under constant supervision by undercover police officers from the anti-drugs squad who made four arrests during the weekend. A 61-year-old Dutch man was arrested for lighting up and sending the joint around at his lecture; one youngster was busted for driving under the influence of drugs, and two others for having “bigger than small” amount of marihuana and LSD on them.
Pavel Smolík is one of the founders of Growshop, the biggest Czech firm of its kind, and one of the biggest exhibitors at the fair. He says the police did a great job.
“Of course there are always problems, not everybody is willing to respect the rules, but we are here and the atmosphere is friendly. From my experience, the police understand the situation, they know where the real crime is, and if politicians weren’t involved in the game, it would be easy to deal with the police. We are proving here that it can work, so the Czech police force deserves a lot of respect.”
Growshop was established in Prague 14 years ago as the first such company in the former eastern block. They sell literally everything for growing plants under artificial light. Pavel Smolík says that with the new legislation, the market has seen some interesting developments.
“On the one hand, we see a stable growth of the market, there are more customers, shops and companies. The developments here trail behind those in western Europe; I’d say we are some three to five years behind.
“After the new legislation, we were surprised that many elderly people, retired people or those that are seriously ill come to us. When somebody has cancer and doctors cannot help, or when someone has Alzheimer, they want to grow medical marihuana, so we are getting a completely new generation of customers.”
“We don’t focus only on marihuana growers. We focus on growing under artificial light. I think we are the only supplier for agricultural universities, research institutes and schools, so we supply all kinds of growers.
I think I can admit that most of our customers grow medical or regular marihuana but we don’t push them, we don’t give them advice. We just want to provide the best conditions for growing plants, and the plants are similar, whether you grow tomatoes or other plants. It’s your choice.”
If someone wants to set up a grow kit at home, how much do you spend on it?
“In cooperation with Reflex magazine, we set up a basic grower’s kit for people who want to grow plants at home or who are sick and want to grow their own plants. The full set is 10,000 crowns, or just over 540 US dollars, so I think everyone can afford this.”
Many people at the Prague hemp fair were predominantly interested in medical products made from cannabis. One of the stands that drew the largest numbers of visitors was set up by Bayer and Romsy, an Olomouc-based producer of hemp cosmetics. The firm’s head is Jindřich Bayer.
“We make the best quality hemp cosmetics. The products range from facial cream to hemp seed oil, to healing salves against pain, almost anything. And a great mouth rinse.”
Judging by your accent, you must have spent some time in the US. Is that where you got the idea for your company?
“Well, I sort of started smoking heavy skunks when I was in the States, but that was 15 years ago; I was there on a one-year study exchange programme. This idea came six years ago.
“People are finding out about the miracles of hemp medicine. It works differently than most medications people get when they suffer from pains, eczema and things like that. After ten years of medical treatment, they come and they put in once or twice and it works. If we were able to use real hemp oil, we would of course have much better results.”
Cannabizz Prague 2010 proved to be a great success, with some 16,000 visitors over the weekend. It was the first ever hemp fair held in the Czech Republic, and its success means it will certainly not be the last. Similar events have already been announced, fomenting Prague’s reputation as the “Amsterdam of the East”.
