Hundreds of thousands of young people face draconian penalties
On Wednesday, July 12, the government will discuss the inclusion of Kratom and HHC on the list of addictive substances. This decision could affect hundreds of thousands of young lives.
Prague, July 10, 2023
On Wednesday, July 12, the government will discuss the inclusion of Kratom and HHC on the list of addictive substances. This decision could affect hundreds of thousands of young lives.
The Ministry of Health is submitting a proposal to the government to ban the natural stimulant Kratom and the cannabis product HHC, which are used by almost 200,000 mostly young adults in the Czech Republic, and justifies this proposal by protecting children and adolescents. The national coordinator for drug policy, Jindřich Vobořil, who has prepared a draft law on psychomodulatory substances, which prohibits their sale to minors and protects users from consuming substances of unknown composition, does not agree with this proposal.
By including kratom and HHC on the list of addictive substances, possession of these substances will become illegal with a penalty of up to 8 years. Given the fact that many users have stocked up in anticipation of the announced ban, this is not an empty threat, but a real risk of criminal prosecution. According to our legal system, criminal prosecution authorities are obliged to prosecute all crimes they learn about. Even the later removal from the list of addictive substances, which the Ministry of Health promises after the adoption of the Act on Psychomodulatory Substances, would not change anything in the sentence imposed.
Another unintended consequence of this act is the reduction in the quality of life of cannabis patients. For many of them, HHC is a more affordable option for relief from convulsive conditions than medicinal cannabis, the accessibility of which is limited by dysfunctional restrictions in the area of clinical specializations and indications, as well as reimbursement of an individually effective dose. Many patients have also been using kratom for pain relief for several years, while maintaining their quality of life at a satisfactory level.
We therefore call on the Czech government to reject this proposal as unjustified. Otherwise, it would be appropriate to release more funds for the construction of new prisons.
Signed by:
Institute for Rational Addiction Policies
Patient Association for Cannabis Treatment
