However, in 2013, the Czech Constitutional Court annulled the 2010 government directive, ruling that only a law, not a government, could define criminal offenses. This led to legal ambiguity until the Czech Supreme Court established stricter guidelines regarding non-criminal amounts, reducing possession to 10 grams.

Therefore, if this amendment is approved, it would officially decriminalize cannabis by law.

Legalization On Hold: Is Decriminalization The New Path?

The plan to formalize the decriminalization of cannabis for personal use is viewed as a more cautious approach compared to earlier attempts to regulate the substance in the Czech Republic.

In 2022, the Czech Republic announced its plan to legalize cannabis, following Germany’s example, which legalized recreational cannabis for personal use without sales in April 2024.

However, while the Czech initiative initially aimed to create a legal market, by 2024, when it disclosed its plan for legalization, it became clear that there was no room to establish one, as it didn’t include regulations for sales.

Despite this more cautious approach, the Czech plan, which is part of a broader strategy to modernize drug policies, reduce the illicit market, and generate tax revenue, now results in a legislative stalemate due to political divisions over full legalization.

Therefore, the amendment to decriminalize the possession and cultivation of cannabis appears to be a more conservative approach to regulating cannabis in the country, while leaving room for the full legalization process to unfold.

In the last few years, the Czech Republic has also taken steps to regulate substances beyond cannabis.

The Czech Republic Ministry of Agriculture has been planning since 2023 the restriction of the sale of products containing CBD and other hemp-based cannabinoids, saying that there is no scientific proof of their health result and pointing to the EU rules on novel foods. The plan, however, was never implemented. CBD products are legally available but have never been officially approved as food or medicine.

In 2024, the Parliament of the Czech Republic adopted a draft law regulating synthetic cannabinoids and emerging psychoactive substances such as HHC and kratom. Growing health concerns on this issue, including some involving minors, led to the temporary banning of HHC at the beginning of 2024 and the drafting of new laws establishing a framework to control psychoactive substances, including age restrictions, sales restrictions to specialized stores, banning sale through vending machines, and online sales without verification.

Instead of altogether banning kratom and HHC, the Czech Republic is, therefore, going to put them into a special regulatory category, neither food nor medicine, which indicates a shift toward regulated oversight and harm reduction measures.