Prague Goes Green!!!
Dec 10, 2009
It’s not the Hopenhagen effect, though going green and ‘being green’ are more closely linked than has been discussed. (Just roll one up and think about it. Sure, an hour or two later you’re still going to be sitting here and thinking about it instead of going out there and creating some scary carbon footprints.!) It’s the Amsterdam effect. And, since we called it years ago, we feel good crowing about it in public now that it’s come to pass.
In yet another sign that Prague is the New Amsterdam, the Czech government went one step further this week towards legalising cannabis. From Jan 1, 2010 onwards, Czechs can grow upto five marijuana plants or carry couple Js in their pockets without fear of criminal prosecution. Marijuana has already been semi-legal in Prague for years, with most bars looking aside as clients rolled up a spliff, and dealers operating in the open in ‘known’ cafes and clubs. It’s never been a big deal to light one up in Prague, and, unlike its sister city, Amsterdam, the natives do smoke. It’s not just something for the stoner tourists but a local phenomenom, with 22% of Czechs between the ages of 16 and 35 having smoked. We figure it’s much higher than that, at least 50% and over in Prague.
Whatever the real statistics, the government ruling is a legaslative recognition of the realities on the ground. Since the Velvet Revolution, Czechs have been the most dope-friendly nation in Europe, even more than the Dutch, who have spent the last decade cutting back on their freewheeling coffeeshop culture. The country’s mainstream magazine, Reflex openly campaigned for dope legalisation, and its reporter, J.X. Dolezal was hailed as the Czech Hunter S. Thompson. He’s written books like ‘How to Take Drugs’ and ‘Stoned Country’, and . A medical marijuana pharmacy was opened to great fanfare in the center of Prague recently, with even the Mayor attending the event. Though the place was raided and the drugs confiscated a few weeks later, the message is clear: Europe’s dope-mecca is moving East. Now, what we need is some new strain of Beastly weed from the East!
Tags: dolezal, dope, legalize pot, Prague, reflex
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