Addiction Policy 2025+ Memorandum: Pathway to a Sustainable and Healthy Czechia

An expert memorandum for the 2025 Elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Addiction is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, with significant impacts on public health, economic stability, and social cohesion in the Czech Republic. Estimates indicate that the annual societal costs associated with the negative impacts of addictive behaviors range between CZK 150 and 250 billion. Despite this, the field continues to receive insufficient attention, while existing measures often lack the necessary comprehensiveness and systemic anchoring.

The Czech Republic has long committed to the principles outlined in the National Strategy for the Prevention and Reduction of Harms Associated with Addictive Behaviors 2019–2027.

This strategy is grounded in respect for human rights, an integrated and evidence-based approach, and a differentiated policy framework according to the risk profiles of substances and behaviors. It prioritizes the rational allocation of resources to areas with the greatest potential for harm and the highest public health benefits. The strategy also calls for coordinated, long-term engagement of all stakeholders, the strengthening of local government capacities, and active involvement of professional associations, service providers, and clients themselves.

However, these commitments remain only partially fulfilled.

With the upcoming elections to the Chamber of Deputies (3–4 October 2025), it is essential to articulate a clear, data-driven, and long-term vision. Such a vision should reinforce implementation of the current National Strategy while creating the conditions for a new framework in the next period. The incoming government will have a unique opportunity to strengthen harm and risk reduction principles and mainstream them across all areas of addiction policy.

Czechia as a Model for Europe

Over the past three decades, the Czech Republic has built an internationally recognized reputation in the field of modern and balanced addiction policy. This model integrates legal and illegal psychoactive substances, behavioral addictions, and links health, social, and security policies.

As a result, it serves as inspiration for European policymakers and international institutions.

Since the early 1990s, the Czech model has rested on three pillars: the principle of harm reduction, systematic reliance on scientific evidence, and the engagement of a broad range of stakeholders. Czechia has also demonstrated flexibility in responding to new challenges, for example, regulating nicotine pouches in 2021 and again in 2023, becoming one of the first EU countries to legislate in this field. This approach drew inspiration from Sweden, where the transition of smokers to less harmful nicotine products contributed to the lowest smoking prevalence and related disease burden in Europe. Sweden remains the only country globally close to achieving “smoke-free” status, defined as fewer than 5% of adults smoking daily.

The principle of risk-proportionate regulation has also informed Czech excise tax policy.

Since 2024, differentiated excise duty rates have applied to various categories of tobacco and nicotine products. However, sudden rate increases for some alternatives have sparked debate, as they may undermine the original goal of incentivizing less harmful products. Going forward, this principle must also be consistently applied to other legal substances, particularly in alcohol taxation and in establishing effective cannabis quality control mechanisms.

Recent milestones include the Criminal Code amendment that decriminalized possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use and cultivation of a limited number of plants. This shift reflects risk-based regulation of psychoactive substances and marks a departure from a purely punitive paradigm towards more rational regulation.

Another breakthrough is the psychomodulation legislation, effective January 2025. This legal framework enables more effective, targeted regulation of new psychoactive substances, allowing timely responses to their market appearance, regulation of availability, and stronger consumer protection.

The Czech model also carries significant international weight. During its 2022 Presidency

of the Council of the EU, Czechia advanced debates on human rights in drug policy and the link between mental health and addiction prevention. It initiated and secured adoption of the Council Conclusions on Human Rights in Drug Policy (15818/22), which for the first time clearly established that European drug policy must be evidence-based, integrated, and balanced.

The document also emphasized the need to safeguard public health, prevent stigma, ensure access to harm reduction and treatment services, guarantee proportionality of penalties, and involve civil society actively.

Principles and Recommendations for Future Addiction Policy

Evidence-Based Regulation

All addiction-related measures must be grounded in scientifically validated knowledge

and systematically collected data, not in subjective impressions, political preferences,

or unfounded public sentiment calling for prohibitionist measures. Regulation of psychoactive substances and products with addictive potential must be based on comprehensive risk assessment, comparative analysis with other regulated substances and products, and relevant epidemiological and social data. Czechia must therefore strengthen investment in addiction research and ensure flexible adaptation of its strategies to the latest scientific evidence.

Harm Reduction as a Central Principle

The public health concept of harm reduction must serve as the guiding principle and benchmark for all addiction strategies and regulations. Mere psychoactivity must not automatically justify prohibition. The supply of addictive products should be regulated according to their relative harm, and users must have access to clear, evidence-based information on effects and risks. Prohibitions that push substances onto the black market create major risks for consumers due to unregulated composition, dangerous adulteration, and significantly higher health harms.

Fundamental Freedoms and Human Rights

Humanity’s use of psychoactive substances dates back to its very beginnings. It was only

in the 20th century that substances were divided into legal and illegal categories. This division, however, does not reflect the actual health and social risks of each substance. A paradox has thus emerged: in Czechia, people may face disproportionate punishment for consuming certain substances, while alcohol and tobacco - both highly addictive and harmful - remain legally available and socially tolerated. Yet it is precisely these legal substances that account for the greatest health risks. They function as “social drugs” and are protected by regulation. Users of other psychoactive substances, including people with addictions, must no longer be subjected to discriminatory policies and disproportionate penalties.

Accessible Prevention and Treatment Network Services

The Czech Republic must expand access to, and improve funding for, voluntary addiction treatment, including substitution therapy and other harm reduction interventions. The addiction services network requires stable funding that allows for performance, and outcomes-based mechanisms. A crucial step is the adoption of an Addiction Services Act that would secure financing and protect services from fluctuations in grant schemes. It is also necessary to strengthen evidence-based prevention and provide robust support for individuals who have lost control over their addiction.

Rule of Law and Security

Prohibition ultimately creates illegal markets, strengthens organized criminal groups, fosters corruption, and facilitates money laundering. The pursuit of a “drug-free world” inflates law enforcement and security expenditures, while illicit trade profits empower criminal networks that threaten security and the rule of law. Czechia must continue its transition towards rational regulation rather than repressive policies, which have proven ineffective and counterproductive.

Transparency and Participation

Addiction policymaking must ensure systematic participation of civil society, non-governmental organizations, independent experts, and users themselves. Decision-making must be open, transparent, and based on democratic principles of consultation and cooperation.

International Leadership

Czechia should leverage its leadership in modern addiction policy to promote progressive approaches internationally. This includes active involvement in global drug policy reform, supporting harm reduction–based approaches at the EU level, and sharing Czech experience with other countries. Czechia has the potential to act as a catalyst for global change, from outdated prohibitionist frameworks to rational, evidence-based policies.

These principles provide a clear pathway to a sustainable and healthy society, capable

of effectively responding to the negative impacts of addictions while protecting the rights

of its citizens. The Czech Republic has all the prerequisites to become a European leader in rational addiction policy. Adopting and implementing the proposed measures will not only improve public health but also significantly reduce economic and social costs. An evidence-based, harm reduction–oriented approach is not a burden but an effective investment in the health and prosperity of the entire nation.

This memorandum summarizes principles that have proven successful in both Czech

and international contexts and that can serve as the foundation for future addiction policy

in the Czech Republic. It is desirable that forthcoming strategies and legislative frameworks be grounded in these principles—namely, strict reliance on scientific evidence, application of harm reduction, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, an accessible prevention and treatment network, and transparent decision-making. If systematically embedded into policy, these recommendations will enable the Czech Republic to maintain its position as a country advancing modern and rational addiction regulation, capable of mitigating both health and economic burdens associated with this phenomenon. We therefore call upon political parties, parliamentary candidates, and the future government to commit to the principles of this memorandum.

Prague, 25 September 2025

Institute for Rational Addiction Policies

Institute for Mental Health and Addiction Studies