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The European cannabis industry is preparing to descend on Berlin and London for European Cannabis Week where the latest insights from the world’s leading voices will take centre stage across four separate events taking place from June 19-25.
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The Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a landmark amendment which, if passed through the Senate, will legalise home cultivation of up to three plants, home possession of up to 100g of cannabis per person, and public possession of up to 25g per person.
Its initial passage by an overwhelming majority marks a major step forward in the country’s years-long efforts to liberalise its drug laws, and forms part of a far broader reformation of its criminal system ‘significantly lowering’ punishments for cannabis-related offenses, and placing them in an individual category.
The amendment has been framed as a pragmatic approach to solving the Czech Republic’s overcrowded prison crisis, with outgoing Justice Minister Pavel Blažek (ODS) stating that it would help ‘criminal law better distinguish between truly socially harmful behaviour and cases that do not belong in criminal proceedings at all’.
Just last week, the UK’s Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, supported similar proposals to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of cannabis, again to ease pressure on a severely strained justice and prison system. Hope remains on both sides that the Czech Republic’s changes could serve both as a model and motivation for other markets to follow suit.
What happened?
On Friday, May 30, the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) voted for two amendments to the criminal code to significantly relax the threshold of criminality in relation to cannabis.
These amendments were included in a broad criminal code reform bill that was passed with an overwhelming majority of 142 to 16 votes, notably including support from the ANO, the populist major opposition party.
Only the SPD party, a right-wing populist organisation, voted against the bill, which has now been sent to the Senate for a vote ahead of a final signature from the President.
Should the bill pass through the Senate (where the government holds a majority) without any changes being made to its contents, it is expected to be implemented on January 01, 2026.
From that date, the threshold of criminality for home cultivation, home possession and public possession would be amended for adults over 21 as follows:
Home cultivation:
Legal to grow up to three cannabis plants per person.
Growing four to five plants will be considered a misdemeanour.
Growing more than five plants will be treated as a felony.
Home possession:
Legal to possess up to 100 grams of cannabis flower.
Possession of 101 to 200 grams will be considered a misdemeanour.
Possession of more than 200 grams constitutes a felony offense.
Public possession:
Legal to possess up to 25 grams in public.
Possession of 26 to 50 grams will be considered a misdemeanour.
Possession of more than 50 grams constitutes a criminal offense.
According to the Czech Criminal Code (Act No. 40/2009 Coll.), misdemeanours encompass all negligent criminal offenses and all intentional criminal offenses for which the law stipulates a maximum imprisonment term of up to five years.
Misdemeanours, while technically criminal in nature, typically carry more lenient legal consequences than felonies. In the case of cannabis-related offences, the long-standing practice in the Czech Republic is that a misdemeanour results in, at most, a fine of up to €600 and the confiscation of the cannabis, with no criminal penalties imposed
Dr Tomas Ryska, Managing Director of Astrasana Czech., and member of influential cannabis lobby group Rational Regulation (RARE) told Business of Cannabis: “I want to clarify that cannabis hasn’t been legalised yet. It’s been passed by the parliament, but it still needs to go through the Senate and be signed by the President.
“That said, we don’t expect any major issues at that stage. The president has repeatedly and publicly stated his support for regulation and legalisation, so we anticipate his backing.”
While he suggested that the two main parties, the ANO and the ODS, ‘won’t stand in the way’ and will allow the bill to move forward without obstruction through the Senate, he cautioned that ‘this is politics, so we have to remain cautious’.
“We’ll need to continue doing the work, meeting with senators, educating them, and staying engaged. But right now, things are looking positive. So yes, there’s progress, but we’re not there yet.”
Lukas Hurt, editor of Konopi Magazine and manager of Czechia’s cannabis and hemp cluster, CzecHemp, also informed Business of Cannabis that he believes the Senate would not be changing these numbers.
“If the Senate sends the bill back to the Lower House for any reason, the entire criminal code reform could end up being shelved due to a lack of time to override the Senate’s decision. Elections are just five months away, and the summer recess – when no legislative sessions are held – is fast approaching,” he explained.
That’s why there is currently a gentleman’s agreement between the government and the opposition in the Senate to allow the reform to pass without objections. But it is still politics so anything can happen.”
A shift in justification for cannabis reform
The amendment forms part of a broader reform of the criminal code, which gives greater priority to alternative punishments in efforts to reduce the number of prisoners, reduce recidivism and reduce the financial needs of the justice system.
Courts will now be able to impose fines for any criminal offence, though more serious offences will continue to include prison sentences alongside these fines.
According to local news sources, while the Chamber rejected proposals from the Pirate Party to implement a fully legal commercial cannabis market, as covered extensively by Business of Cannabis , its proponents say they’re still pushing hard for this bill to be adopted.
However, as part of this wide-reaching reform, cannabis-related crimes will have a separate section in the code amid efforts to see punishment better reflect the social impact of cannabis, in language that strongly resembles the thinking behind recent recommendations in the UK.
The Czech Republic has led the way in framing cannabis reform as part of a broader public health and harm reduction strategy, an approach increasingly adopted across European markets, not least because it provides a viable path through international legal obstacles.
While the core aims of the Czech cannabis liberalisation project remain unchanged, a growing international acknowledgment that prosecuting cannabis users imposes a disproportionate burden on justice systems, relative to their actual social impact, marks a significant shift in tone.
Libor Vávra, president of the Judges’ Union, welcomed the expansion of alternative sentences suggesting they would allow judges to ‘better individualise punishment’, and should be seen as a reduction in sentences in this context.
What does this mean for full legalisation efforts?
The Czech Republic still represents the only country to be meaningfully pushing for a fully legal commercial cannabis market, with a bill and fully considered framework already penned and ready to be voted upon.
While this marks a step forward for these wider efforts, it by no means marks a compromise of these ultimate goals, nor an end to efforts to achieve them.
“This is our main goal, and we’re far from finished. The decriminalisation of home growing is just the beginning,” Dr Ryska said.
He continued that this is likely the best outcome advocates could hope for in the current political climate, with leadership unwilling to push through more significant changes.
However, with elections set to take place in the coming autumn, he believes a new parliament could help hoist legalisation out of the political limbo it’s been stuck in for months.
“It’s also a historic moment. And I truly believe there’s a strong chance that, after the next elections, we’ll be in a position to push harder and finally achieve what we’ve always aimed for: a properly regulated market.”
“}]] The Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a landmark amendment which, if passed through the Senate, will legalise home cultivation of up to three plants, home possession of up to 100g of cannabis per person, and public possession of up to 25g per person. Read More
