NEW DRUG GUIDELINES ARE EUROPE'S MOST LIBERAL

Czech Rules On Narcotics Possession Designed To Aid Law Enforcement

Long known for a liberal policy on drugs, the Czech Republic is now
officially quantifying its status as one of European Union's most
lenient member states when it comes to decriminalizing drug
possession. But these new guidelines come among signs that the rest of
Czech drug policy is not keeping pace with other EU members and
contradicts law enforcement tactics being utilized to tackle alcohol
abuse.

On Dec. 14, Prime Minister Jan Fischer's government approved new
standardized limits, delineating criminal and misdemeanor drug
offenses. Starting Jan. 1, the new numbers will allow a person to
possess, for example, up to 15 grams of marijuana or 1.5 grams of
heroin without facing criminal charges. Anybody possessing less than
these amounts is eligible to be charged for a misdemeanor, but may
also receive little more than a warning from police.

"It is a step in a right direction," said Michal Hammer, spokesman for
the National Drug Squad (NPC). "To put it simply, for exceeding these
amounts of narcotics possession, one can be prosecuted in FrA=dek
Mistek as well as in Ostrava."

Authorities are quick to point out that these levels represent not a
change in law, but rather a clearer definition for law enforcement,
which has previously used the ambiguous term "a small amount" as the
dividing line between misdemeanor and felony prosecution. In the Czech
Republic, 87 percent of successful prosecutions are tied to cases
involving drug sales or production, and only 13 percent are related to
possession, according to the NPC.

New Guidelines

Starting in 2010, possessing the following amounts of drugs is no
longer a criminal offense.

Marijuana 15 grams or less

Heroin 1.5 grams or less

Cocaine 1 gram or less

Methamphetamine 2 grams or less

Hallucinogenic mushrooms 40 pieces or less

LSD 5 tablets or less

Lagging in policy

The Czech Republic may be among the most liberal EU member states when
it comes to decriminalizing drug possession, but policy on prevention
and treatment lags behind others with similar regulations

Total Anti-Drug Expenditure

Czech Republic 22.7 million euros

The Netherlands 2.2 billion euros

Treatment, counseling, medical expenditure

Czech Republic 9.4 million euros

The Netherlands 550 million euros

Czech authorities insist their new guidelines fall in step with
European norms, but they are in fact much more liberal than policies
in most neighboring countries. According to the European Legal
Database on Drugs (ELDD), Slovakia defines criminal drug possession as
having more than three times a single dose of any substance, putting
the Czech regulation of marijuana some 15 times over that threshold.
In Hungary, anyone possessing any amount of drugs is eligible for a
five-year prison sentence. Those defined as addicts are punished less
severely but are still eligible for a one-year prison term for
possessing any drugs.

The Czech philosophy on drug policy may in fact make the country the
most liberal of all EU member states. Even the Netherlands, long known
as a bastion of liberal drug policies, including businesses licensed
to sell marijuana, draws a sharper legal distinction between hard and
soft drugs. The Dutch also limit decriminalized possession of
marijuana to 5 grams (one-third of the Czech amount) and any hard
drugs to 0.5 grams (one-third of the Czech amount for heroin).

The logic behind decriminalizing drug possession is to treat drug
addiction as a public health problem rather than a criminal one.

"If a person possess drugs for their own use, or is a drug addict and
needs his daily dose, the prosecution of such a person does not solve
the drug-abuse problem as a whole," Hammer said.

A shift in policy toward decriminalization is usually accompanied by a
shift in resources from law enforcement and courts to drug treatment
and counseling, and it is in this area, as well as in the overall
resources dedicated to fighting drugs, that the Czech Republic lags
far behind its European counterparts with liberalized drug policies.

In 2008, the Czech Republic spent a total of 597.3 million KA on
anti-drug policy with about two-thirds of that money coming from the
national government. About 247 million KA of the total was spent on
prevention, addiction treatment and medical care.

The Netherlands spent 2.2 billion euros last year on drug policy, with
25 percent (550 million euros) spent on treatment, prevention and
medical care.

While the Netherlands has about three times as many residents as the
Czech Republic, a comparison between the two finds that the Dutch
spend more than 30 times more money per resident on anti-drug policy
(73 euros per person per year in the Netherlands versus 2.2 euros per
person per year in the Czech Republic) and 20 times more per person
per year on drug treatment and counseling (18 euros per person per
year in the Netherlands versus less than 1 euro per person per year in
the Czech Republic).

The loose Czech policy on drug possession does not match the
philosophy being utilized to combat other substance abuse problems
either, raising questions about whether the government is attacking
addiction with a coherent policy.

On Dec. 15, the Czech Traffic Police announced they would begin using
breathalyzer tests during every traffic stop to combat what they say
was a doubling of people driving under the influence compared with
last year. The Czech Republic is the only country in Europe test for
alcohol on every traffic stop.

"The change in practice only applies to alcohol," said Veronika
BenediktovA!, a police spokeswoman. "The screening test to detect that
a driver is under the influence of drugs will only be applied in cases
where the police have suspicions of drug use."

The new clarification of the drug-possession law is being praised by
most experts as a positive step to giving police officers clear,
uniform guidelines, but government offices either proved unable or
unwilling to provide answers to follow-up questions related to the
policy. The Health Ministry declined to provide information about how
much is budgeted each year for drug treatment. The Justice Ministry
was equally tight lipped, though it did say the policy is scheduled
for a review in early 2011.

Even amid signs that the rest of Czech drug policy is not in-step with
liberal possession laws, most drug counseling professionals see the
emphasis on drugs as a public health problem as a good thing. But,
with 44 percent of Czechs between 15 and 24 years old reporting they
have used cannabis, and 29 percent of the same group using the drug in
the past year - the highest rates in the EU - some remain skeptical
whether the policy will make much of a dent.

"It looks more as if it will not have any effect on the drug
situation," said Ivan Douda, a psychologist and co-founder of Drop In,
an NGO focused on treating drug problems. "Drug consumers and dealers
will most likely adjust."

And, with new laws decriminalizing marijuana in amounts with a street
value of between 3,000 and 4,000 KA, Douda has another suggestion.

"It would be better to take into account the purpose of drug -
possession or production - rather than just the amounts," he said.