Czech Republic Is Wrongfully Trying To Punish Cannabis Educators
Cannabis media resources play a vital role in the cannabis community and beyond. For many years, efforts to spread the truth about the cannabis plant were difficult because mainstream media outlets around the world helped perpetuate misleading, and in some cases, blatantly false information about cannabis.
The motivation behind those efforts was obviously political in nature, with global mainstream media outlets helping further the reefer madness agendas of political leaders. There were also business interests at play, with people and entities that financially benefitted from cannabis prohibition working hand-in-hand with lawmakers and media outlets to keep the truth about cannabis hidden.
For many decades, that reefer madness coalition had a virtual monopoly on cannabis information, which is why it wasn’t a coincidence that many people around the globe thought that cannabis was harmful. In many cases, older people still think that is the case because they were conditioned to think so over the course of so many years.
Thankfully, due in large part to better access to media printing and the rise of the internet, there are now various cannabis-focused media outlets operating around the globe, including in the Czech Republic where Legalizace magazine is based. Legalizace magazine is a bimonthly periodical focused on cannabis, as well as drug policy relating to human rights and environmental issues.
It’s an amazing resource for people in the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Their unbiased reporting and the educational information that they publish adds tremendous value to society. Unfortunately, Legalizace magazine and its editor-in-chief Robert Veverka are now facing charges for doing nothing more than educating people. Below is more information about it via a press release from Legalizace:
September 29, 2021 – Prague, Czech Republic
Education is not a crime!
Legalizace magazine and its editor-in-chief, Robert Veverka have been formally accused of “inciting and promoting toxicomania”, with penalties of up to five years of imprisonment. The first court hearing will take place on Tuesday, October 5 at 8:30 AM at the district court in the town of Bruntál, Czech Republic.
According to Czech law, cannabis is considered a regular agricultural crop plant and also possesses the status of a medicinal plant, and its cultivation and processing is permitted in compliance with Act No. 167/1998 Czech Law Coll. without special permission. Given this fact, Legalizace magazine considers the criminal charges of “inciting and promoting toxicomania” not only an instance of systematic failure and demonstrable ignorance of cannabis legislation by the prosecuting authorities but also a gross infringement of freedom of expression and the right to information guaranteed by the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
“The prosecution, which is calculated, stigmatizing, borderline untruthful, and based on fallacious conjectures and limited interpretation by the police that the cultivation and processing of cannabis is automatically illegal or that any mention of cannabis automatically equates ‘inciting toxicomania’, comprises a dangerous precedent comparable to totalitarian repression and censorship. I consider it my duty to fight not only for the right of Legalizace magazine to exist, but also for the rights of all print and electronic media who have ever dared mention the word ‘cannabis’ – or plan to do so in the future,” said Robert Veverka, the editor-in-chief, regarding the indictment.