Senate approves new restrictions on sale of kratom and cannabis-derivative HHC
The Czech Senate has passed new limits on the sale of weaker psychomodulatory substances, including kratom and hexahydrocannabinol (HHC). If signed into law by the president, the substances will only be available to buy by adults and in specific stores from December.
On Wednesday 9th of October, the Czech Senate approved an amendment to the Act on Addictive Substances, responding to concerns that certain psychomodulatory substances are freely available and being consumed by minors. In January this year, primary-school children in Karlovy Vary were poisoned by sweets containing one such substance: HHC, a derivative of the cannabis plant.
Also within the scope of the amendment is kratom, a plant whose leaves can produce both stimulant and sedative effects. Kratom, which is currently legal in Czechia, has been used as a treatment of chronic pain and opium dependency. Because of the medicinal uses, an outright ban is not being considered. Senator Karel Zitterbart described the current situation:
“At the moment, we do not have any regulation on the sale of kratom, for example, and my 14-year-old son can buy it completely unregulated in the convenience store next door. We also know that repression does not work. Repression would only shift the sale of some of these substances to the black market. So what makes sense is regulation.”
Senator Roman Kraus, chairman of the senate committee for healthcare, explained the aim of the amendment:
“The goal is the strict regulation of the market, but not the prohibition and criminalisation of either sellers or users. And just on a side note, I would like to say that it is estimated that in one year, about 200 to 300 tons of kratom will be sold in the Czechia, so this shows the importance of this amendment and the protection of public health.”
The amendment was passed by the lower Chamber of Deputies in May. During the intervening months, the Ministry of Health requested the approval of the European Commission, since the proposed restrictions would be unique within the European Union. The ministry sought confirmation that a ban on the export of the substances or their cross-border sale would be in accordance with the rules of the common EU market.
The proposed amendment differentiates substances according to their level of risk, creating a category of substances to which regulated sales apply. The substances in question would only be available to buy in specialised stores, and could not be sold in vending machines or as products that imitate toys or sweets. The amendment would also set restrictions on their sale online, specifically an obligation to verify the buyer’s age. Until a given substance is assessed and given approval by the Ministry of Health, it will be prohibited. HHC was previously added to the list of prohibited addictive substances back in March, a status that is only valid until the end of the year.
The amendment coincides with a new proposal from the Ministry of Health on the possession of cannabis plants. The ministry proposes that the personal cultivation of a maximum of three plants should be legalised, although experts have called the proposal unrealistic. The problem is that the law would assume that the grower will only be able to keep 50 grams of dried cannabis, which is much less than what normally grows on one plant. Jindřich Vobořil, a former government anti-drug agent, told the news site Novinky.cz that the plan was “good from a symbolic point of view, but will not work in practice.”
