Czech Republic Decriminalizes Cultivation Of Marijuana Starting Jan. 1

By Steve Elliott in Toke of the Town

Photo: Psychonaught

Five of these? Yes, please. (Super Silver Haze sativa/indica hybrid)

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The government of the Czech Republic in eastern Europe will allow ordinary citizens to grow up to five marijuana plants starting Jan. 1, 2010.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Jan Fischer defined "personal use" amounts of cannabis and other drugs, clarifying the nation's new penal code that will decriminalize cultivation and possession of pot.

While marijuana will remain technically illegal, possession will be punished only with fines comparable to those imposed for parking tickets, Sean Carney at the Wall Street Journal reports.

​What constituted "small amounts" for personal use was previously undefined. Police and the courts loosely interpreted the laws on a case by case basis, often resulting in home marijuana growers being jailed.

Photo: Reality Catcher

This is what 15 grams of pot looks like. If you have this much or less, you won't have to Czech yourself, starting Jan. 1.

According to the Justice Ministry's additional proposed rules, which according to Czech newspaper České Noviny are not yet formally approved, the possession of up to 15 grams (just over half an ounce) of dried marijuana will no longer be a criminal offense. Individuals will be also allowed to possess up to five grams of hashish without being prosecuted.

If the government accepts the ministry's proposed rules in two weeks, those having more than 15 grams of marijuana or five grams of hash could still face up to one year in prison.

Also allowed under section of the new rules already approved will be cultivation of up to five coca plants and five mescaline cactus. Up to 40 psilocybin "magic" mushrooms may be kept at home, according to the approved rules.

Even harder drugs are included in the decrim plan. According to a section of the proposal not yet officially approved, up to two grams of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin will also be decriminalized. Possession of up to four Ecstasy tables won't be criminally punished.

Approval of a table specifying specific amounts of drugs is part of the country's new penal code, approved last year by both houses of Parliament and signed into law this year by President Vaclav Klaus.

Photo: Chmee2

Burning one down in the Czech Republic. Hempiest heads in Europe?

​Czechs are not only Europe's heaviest beer drinkers (320 pints per person per year), according to the Wall Street Journal; they may also be the continent's biggest potheads.

Almost one of four, 22 percent, of Czechs between 16 and 34 smoke marijuana at least once a year, according to a 2005 report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Although the medical marijuana issue is gaining prominence in Europe and worldwide, the Czech Republic still doesn't recognize medical use of the herb. However, a Czech non-profit group in September opened the nation's first marijuana dispensary in Prague, despite there being no medical marijuana laws on the books.

The grand opening of the dispensary was attended by Prague's mayor, Dr. Pavel Bern, who is also a physician and proponent of responsible marijuana use.

Some Czech courts have occasionally made exemptions to current law to allow for medical use and cultivation of cannabis, but without supporting legislation such rules remain in limbo.

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Washington's Marijuana Decrim Bill: State Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing

This Washington Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate SB 5615, to decriminalize the possession of 40 grams or less of marijuana, took place Tuesday, February 10, 2008, in Olympia.

The marijuana discussion begins around 1 hour, 32 minutes, 36 seconds into the video presentation (it is easy to skip to this part by moving and clicking appropriately on the progress bar).

Shankar Narayan of the Washington ACLU was there to eloquently and effectively go to bat for decrim, as was former State Representative Toby Nixon, bill sponsor Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, John Cary of the King County Bar Association, and Jeremy Miller of the Olympia Hemp, Love, and Freedom Foundation.

After the informative and intelligent contributions of others, Seth Dawkins took the hearing off on a surreal and bizarre tangent as he wove a breathless mix of half-truths, botched studies, woeful inaccuracies, and outright lies in his irrational opposition to marijuana decriminalization.

Washington's Marijuana Decrim Bill: Why It's Good, What's The Hold-Up, And What To Do

The Washington state legislature is looking at a bill which would decriminalize adult marijuana possession in the Evergreen State.

There are many, many reasons that reducing the penalties for marijuana is a good thing. But the biggest and best is:

You don't get put in a cage for pot.

Anyone who underestimates the value of not being in a cage hasn't spent much time in one.

Under current law, possessing as little as one joint is punishable by up to 90 days in jail. In Washington last year, 11,553 people were arrested on marijuana possession charges.

As reported by Dominic Holden in The Stranger, sponsors and advocates behind the bill intend to emphasize the bill’s savings. Representative Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia), one of the bill's co-sponsors, said he plans to “frame it in terms of the tradeoff in the budget discussion … and set a square alternative."

Williams says conservative legislators could be attracted to the cost-saving argument for decriminalization more than ever. “Do you choose to provide health care for x number of children or fund criminalizing marijuana possession?” he asked. For example, Williams cites a cost analysis of pot busts taken from Washington State Institute for Public Policy data that shows, based on the number of arrests in 2007, Washington would save $7.5 million by passing the law.

No Republicans have co-sponsored either the House or the Senate versions of the marijuana decrim bill.


Chart: The Stranger

Alison Holcomb, director of the ACLU of Washington’s Drug Policy Project, said public opinion is on the bill’s side. A recent poll shows 81 percent of Washington voters believe pot laws aren’t working. “I think that the bill is an improvement Washington voters are ready to see,” she says. Massachusetts voters passed a nearly identical measure in November by a 30-point margin—and the lack of pot-induced hysteria in Massachusetts may provide evidence that the hackneyed reefer-madness claims about marijuana reforms are unfounded.


Alison Holcomb of the ACLU
"Thirteen other states have already [decriminalized marijuana]"—including Massachusetts, where a measure similar to the one in the Washington State legislature passed a public vote in November by a 30-point margin—"and we haven't seen any of those other states struggle with [the] problem" of federal prosecution, Holcomb said.

California has made possession of marijuana a civil infraction, and, like Washington, it also sits on an international border and has a coastline patrolled by federal agents.

The Facts

SB 5615 would change pot possession of 40 grams or less from a misdemeanor to a $100 civil infraction. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on SB 5615 Tuesday, February 10 at 10 a.m. in Hearing Room 1 of the J.A. Cherberg Building on the Capitol campus in Olympia, WA.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5615&year=2009

This is a companion bill to HB 1177:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1177&year=2009



Rep. Chris Hurst doesn't want marijuana -- and he doesn't want you to have it, either
The House version of the bill, HB 1177, is being held up in the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee by the committee chairman, this asshat, Rep. Chris Hurst:

http://www.leg.wa.gov/HOUSE/hurst

Reality Catcher suggests you call his office and let him know what you think about that. (For best results, I further suggest you don't call Rep. Hurst or his assistants "asshats." Do as I say, not as I do.)

Telephone (360) 786-7866

Or if you're one of his constituents, you can send him a message online:

Email Rep. Chris Hurst

In addition, if you are a resident of Washington, you can use this online form provided by the Washington ACLU to contact your state legislators:

Take Action: Marijuana Reclassification Bill