The House approved rules for dealing with substances such as kratom or cannabis with a low content of the active ingredient THC. The main goal of the parliamentary amendment is to protect children from these substances. Substances with a psychoactive effect are to be differentiated according to their level of risk, only adults will be able to buy less risky substances. According to the amendment, sellers will have to meet various conditions, and a ban on public advertising will apply. The draft is subject to the approval of the European Commission, it will go to the Senate for consideration.
Because the parliamentary debate on the regulation of so-called psychomodulating substances dragged on, the government included HHC and other cannabis derivatives on the list of prohibited addictive substances with effect until the end of the year. Their sale is now impossible and possession of more than a small amount is a crime.
Members of the SPD opposition movement opposed the proposed rules in particular. According to Jan Síla, the amendment will enable the sale of addictive substances in the Czech Republic. Another SPD deputy, Karla Maříková, expected that so-called psychomodulating substances would be banned. “They can have serious effects on the health of users,” he says.
The draft was approved by the lower house with the votes of the government majority. ANO and SPD MPs did not support it. The amendment assumes that there will be two more in addition to the list of prohibited narcotic substances. One will contain so-called classified psychoactive substances with unknown health effects, where all new such substances would fall. Their sale would not be possible and they would first be examined for up to two years before being transferred to another list. Another list would include psychomodulating substances with a low health risk. The classification would be presented to the government by the Ministry of Health with experts from the State Health Institute and the government department of anti-drug policy.
According to the amendment, products with psychomodulating substances could only be bought by adults in specialized stores, where children would not be allowed. Goods should not imitate toys or confectionery. The ban would apply to sales through vending machines. The law sets restrictions for internet sales, mainly the obligation to verify age during sales and delivery. ANO Member of Parliament Marek Novák did not push through the proposal to make online sales impossible.
“In contrast to alcohol and tobacco, it is not allowed to sell psychomodulating substances in a grocery store or in a drug store. The use of psychomodulating substances can be further restricted by a generally binding municipal ordinance,” states the reasoned report. Cross-border sales and exports would be prohibited. Export with regulation was unsuccessfully proposed by Jakub Michálek (Pirates). He warned of a possible conflict with European law.
Compliance with the conditions of sale of psychomodulating substances would be controlled by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection (SZPI). The advertising ban would be overseen by the Broadcasting Council. It would probably only be inside the stores.
Distributors of psychomodulating substances as well as their sellers would have to have a permit, which will be issued by the Ministry of Health according to the amendment. The administrative fee for starting the procedure for issuing a permit to handle these substances should amount to 200,000 crowns. It would be the same for each e-shop and 20,000 crowns would be paid by the seller for a permit for each establishment.
Today’s parliamentary debate was accompanied by a dispute about the proposed narrowing of the powers of hygienists in restaurant inspections in favor of SZPI. Some deputies of the opposition movement YES pointed out that such a change does not belong in the draft on addictive substances, it was “smuggled” in it as a so-called sticker.
The House of Representatives supplemented the amendment with several other modifications. According to the proposal of Petr Fifka (ODS), the ban on the sale and serving of tobacco and similar products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets to children, has been extended. The prohibition should also cover their free transfer and transfer in the form of consideration. According to Fifka, the amendment responds to the “alarming state of the ever-decreasing age of first contact of children and youth with addictive substances”. The lower house also enacted, on the initiative of Zdenka Němečková Crkvenjaš (ODS), a ban on the sale of all products containing nicotine, including any new ones, to children. On the contrary, the group of MPs around Jan Bureš (ODS) did not promote the possibility of treatment with psilocybin, similar to the case with medical cannabis.
Tags: Kratom THC Act Regulation Psychomodulating Substances passed House Representatives
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