The Czech Republic has taken a historic step towards drug reform after parliament approved changes to the criminal code that will legalise limited home cannabis cultivation and authorise the therapeutic use of psilocybin from January 2026.
The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill on 30th May, making Czechia the third European country after Germany and Malta to permit adults to legally grow, harvest and possess their own cannabis for personal use.
Under the new law, adults over 21 will be allowed to cultivate up to three cannabis plants per person and keep up to 100 grams of dried cannabis at home, with a maximum of 25 grams permitted in public. Cultivation of four to five plants will be treated as an administrative offence, while quantities above that threshold will remain a criminal offence.
The reform also legalises the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, placing it on equal footing with medicinal cannabis, which is already permitted in the country.
Czech cannabis policy reform activists celebrated the milestone, with Lukas Hurt describing it as “the biggest blow to cannabis prohibition in the last 70 years”.
The activist acknowledged that whilst the 100-gram limit is “still not enough,” he recognised the reform as a “huge and pioneering” change that followed more than two years of intensive advocacy work.
The legislation represents a significant compromise from the government’s original ambitious plans. In 2024, the Czech coalition government presented a draft bill that marked a step back from earlier proposals for a fully regulated commercial cannabis market. The original plans, set out in April 2023, envisioned a comprehensive regulated market similar to those proposed in Germany.
However, the government faced political opposition, particularly from the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL), forcing them to dial back their proposals. National Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil acknowledged the compromise, stating: “We have agreed on the self-cultivation of a limited number of plants. This will mean decriminalisation for adults who grow a small amount of cannabis for their own use.”
The proposed bill now proceeds to the Senate, with the legislation expected to come into force in January 2026.
