| Mary Jane’s Garden |
A government committee in the Czech Republic is working on a law to legalize medical marijuana in that Eastern European nation.
The country’s experts have proposed that marijuana would either be imported or grown locally by farmers who are registered and licensed for such a crop, which is currently illegal, reports the Associated Press.
The group also proposed on Monday that all medical marijuana patients should be registered with the government.
The draft of the new marijuana bill is scheduled for completion in December. It could become law in the Czech Republic next year if it is approved by Parliament and the executive branch of government.
| Leaders Vision |
| Martin Plíšek, Ministry of Health: “By the end of this year we will submit to Parliament an amended law on addictive substances which will move marihuana from the list of banned substances to the list of those which can be prescribed” |
”By the end of this year we will submit to Parliament an amended law on addictive substances which will move marihuana from the list of banned substances to the list of those which can be prescribed,” Deputy Health Minister Martin Plíšek said in September, reports Chris Johnstone at CzechPosition.com.
About 8,000 Czech citizens have signed an Internet petition supporting the legalization of medicinal cannabis, arguing that marijuana is legal for such uses in a number of European countries and parts of the United States.
Marijuana is the most popular drug in the Czech Republic; the nation already decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot for personal use and the cultivation of a limited number of plants at the start of 2010. But possession still remains punishable, with police able to impose spot fines.
Authorities in the Czech Republic normally allow a person to possess small quantities of marijuana without being charged, according to Mary Jane’s Garden. People can also grow up to five plants at home for their own personal use in an indoor or outdoor garden.
Germany responded to the decrim law by stepping up searches of Czech citizens at the border, and some observers predict that legalizing medical marijuana could further fuel such tensions with the Czech Republic’s neighboring countries in Europe.