Open letter to the Government of the Czech Republic
Open letter from the Rational Addiction Policy Think Tank to the Government of the Czech Republic on the institutional anchoring of addiction policy
Dear Prime Minister, esteemed members of the government,
The Rational Addiction Policy Think Tank is writing to you in response to its letter of May 25, 2026. We are convinced that the decision to transfer drug policy coordination to the Ministry of Health does not create a permanent or functional solution, not even in terms of the declared goal of improving interdepartmental coordination and greater efficiency. We are not alone in this assessment: on June 1, 2026, the Committee of Representatives of the Regions of the Government Council for the Coordination of Addiction Policy adopted a resolution expressing its disagreement with the transfer and calling on the government to maintain the interdepartmental coordination model, or to open a broader expert discussion on a systemic solution. At the same time, we do not want to remain only with criticism, and therefore we are submitting a specific proposal to the government that is legislatively prepared and whose implementation can be started without delay.
Addiction policy is inherently a cross-cutting agenda that affects at least fourteen other state administration institutions, from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of the Interior to regions or health insurance companies. The Ministry of Health has legal competence for addiction treatment and public health protection, but it does not have a legal mandate to coordinate gambling policy, tax measures, customs agenda or security implications of addictive behavior. The financing problem is equally serious. The Czech network of addiction services includes field programs, contact centers and harm reduction services, which are not purely health services within the meaning of the current legislation and cannot be fully financed from public health insurance. The transfer of coordination may therefore complicate the financing of programs that improve the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of people and the interruption of which would cause significant negative impacts on the state budget.
As part of the RAS project, implemented by the Drug Policy Department of the Government Office in 2016–2021 and financed from the European Social Fund, an addiction law was prepared, including the law on the National Agency for Addictions. This approach corresponds to the recommendations of the European Union Agency for Drugs and does not require significant revision. The proposed National Agency for Addictions would function as a central administrative body with its own legal personality. It would have a separate budget chapter covering the health and social components of addiction services, would take over the agenda of regulating psychomodulatory substances and gambling, and would ensure independent strategic planning and representation of the Czech Republic in international structures. The model is comparable to the National Sports Agency, which has been operating under similar conditions since 2019.
A detailed analysis of institutional arguments, international comparisons, and a specific description of the agency model are presented in the attached policy paper.
Recommendations
Based on the above, we recommend three immediate steps to the government:
to initiate the legislative process for the adoption of the Addiction Law with the aim of submitting it to the interdepartmental comment procedure no later than the end of 2026 and adopting it by the Parliament of the Czech Republic in 2027.
to maintain the Government Council for the Coordination of Addiction Policy and the Drug Policy Department under the Prime Minister for the period of preparation and approval of the law, in order to ensure independent coordination and analytical capacity during this transitional period.
to ensure transitional financing of non-health addiction services outside the framework of the health budget with a clear legal title and a multi-year guarantee until the law comes into effect.
Over the past thirty years, the Czech Republic has built a drug policy system that is internationally recognized and whose results (including the exceptionally low prevalence of HIV among injecting drug users) are measurable and demonstrable. This system needs a stable legal basis.
We are ready to provide the government with all analytical materials and actively participate in the legislative process.
With respect
Think tank Rational Addiction Policies
