Earlier this week, Czech Republic National Anti-Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil announced that he had submitted an intent to resign from his position. Local media reported that the resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Petr Fiala and that the resignation would become effective “at the end of August.”
Jindřich Vobořil has served as a top cannabis policy modernization advocate in the Czech Republic in recent years. In October 2022, Vobořil publicly applauded German lawmakers’ push for adult-use legalization in their country after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach held a press conference announcing provisions of Germany’s proposed legalization model.
Per Radio Prague International at the time:
If national anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil’s proposed plan comes into effect in 2024 as he hopes, Czechia could become the second EU country to legalise the recreational use of cannabis. And not only that – it would even go a step further, also making its sale legal. The anti-drug coordinator presented his plan for combatting addiction – which includes the proposal to legalise cannabis – at a press conference this week.
“At the moment, there is a political consensus for me to create this proposal for the regulation of cannabis, a substance which is illegal at the moment. We want to regulate it with the help of the market and we believe that this regulation will be more effective than the current ban.”
“Germany and the Czech Republic go to a regulated market at the same time.” Jindřich Vobořil stated on his Facebook page the same day Minister Lauterbach made his formal presentation in Germany.
“Today, Germany announced through the mouth of its Minister of Health that it is launching the legislative process. It won’t be quite the free market, as some would expect. For example, colleagues from Germany talk about the allowed amount, they do not have cannabis clubs that we are supposed to. I’m pretty sure I want to hold on to cannabis clubs until my last breath. I find this model very useful, at least for the first years.” Vobořil went on to state in his post.
“However, we are in live contact with our colleagues from Germany and have repeatedly confirmed that we want to coordinate ourselves, even practically by consulting each other on our proposals. I will also want their expert assessment of our proposals, which we will prepare in the above mentioned working expert group.” Vobořil also stated in his Facebook post.
According to domestic reporting in the Czech Republic, Vobořil may have been forced to resign due to his push for a regulated cannabis industry.
“His departure was pushed, for example, by the ruling People’s Party and the head of the ANO opposition movement, Andrej Babiš. Vobořil (1966) worked as an anti-drug coordinator from 2010 to 2018. He returned to his post in February 2022.” stated ČTK in its original coverage (translated from Czech to English).
Despite the announced resignation, Vobořil is expected to stay very active in advocating for cannabis policy modernization efforts in the European nation, and the country’s cannabis movement remains strong.
“The fight to end cannabis prohibition in #Czechia did not end yesterday—quite the contrary!” stated Lukas Hurt, publisher of Magazine Konopí and Cannabis Therapy Magazine, manager of CzecHemp, in a post on LinkedIn. “I am saying to all of you again: with the departure of Jindřich Voboril as national drug coordinator, nothing is over here, on the contrary – everything is at stake now and the implications could be huge for the whole European cannabis movement.”
This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.
Photo by Rodrigo Ardilha on Unsplash
