Young Czechs and Cannabis in Numbers
Cannabis use is currently at a very high level throughout the European Union. More precisely, 6% of European respondents reported using cannabis multiple times in the last month, 8% of European respondents used cannabis in the last year, and 12% of the young European population has experience with cannabis at least once in the last year.
In the Czech Republic, these numbers are even higher. Nearly half of the respondents from the Czech Republic reported some experience with cannabis. Almost a quarter of Czechs (23%) consume cannabis several times in the last year.
51% of respondents believe that obtaining cannabis in the Czech Republic is very easy and almost 24% of Czechs stated they could obtain this substance quite easily, while a minority (12%) would find obtaining a cannabis product very difficult.
This recent report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found that young Czechs aged 16-34 years who regularly use cannabis are many times more numerous than in any other EU country.
Source of infographic: Aktuálně
Cannabis during Communism
It is very likely that even your parents have some experience with cannabis from the communist era before 1989. Translator and writer Josef Rauvolf clearly remembers how it was with cannabis in communist Czechoslovakia.
"Of course, some people at that time already knew about the so-called effects of cannabis use. However, these were only lucky ones who either had acquaintances who grew cannabis or obtained it smuggled from the West. These lucky ones knew well that it was better to grow cannabis at home in the garden, as they would face at least two years in prison for smuggling. The quality was very poor at the time. Seeds were obtained from friends or even from bird feed. On the other hand, if you grew grass in your own garden, no one would call the police, because at that time no one knew what kind of plant it was and what it looked like." The well-known translator adds with a smile.
Numbers and Statistics Among Young People
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction survey focuses on the percentage of people who smoked marijuana at least once in the previous year. However, it does not take into account other factors. For example, it says nothing about intensive marijuana users, medical use, and so on. Perhaps Czechs are just more curious than other Europeans, or perhaps they have easier access to cannabis plants than other EU member states.
In any case, these statistics can be misleading and do not show us the completely objective results of this analysis. In our opinion, we are not the only country in the European Union where cannabis use is a common social aspect among young people. Perhaps Czechs are more open in providing truthful data, perhaps it is really very easy to obtain cannabis in the Czech Republic, but we definitely do not differ in objective results from other countries such as France and Spain, where much stricter penalties for medical cannabis consumption exist and therefore a much smaller percentage of the population officially admits to its consumption.
LEGALIZATION in the Czech Republic
Medical marijuana prescription sales should be made available from April 1, 2013, for patients suffering from cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or even psoriasis. The new law, however, does not anticipate that health insurance companies will cover the treatment costs for such a patient. Price lists for cannabis medicines and cannabis itself are not yet known. However, it is very likely that they will reach far higher prices than currently when purchasing cannabis on the black market. The Czech Republic will first import the drug from Israel and the Netherlands until the State Institute for Drug Control begins issuing licenses for local growers, which will be at the earliest in five years. This institute will also regulate this area and organize tenders for purchasing marijuana from local growers.
REALITY
April 30, 2013:
Act No. 50/2013 has been in effect for exactly one month, but the Czech Ministry of Health and the State Institute for Drug Control have not yet been able to launch the "Registry for Medicinal Products with Restrictions under § 81a," which according to the law should have been fully functional since April 1, 2013. As a result, it is not possible to legally prescribe or dispense medical cannabis to indicated patients, and the law thus is not fulfilled due to the in/activity of the Czech Ministry of Health.