The Netherlands is no longer alone in its permissive approach to drugs. Legislative changes in the Czech Republic look set to make it the country with the most liberal drug policy in Europe.

Probably against their will, the Czechs have found themselves at the forefront of the permissive lobby on drugs. The Czech Republic traditionally pursued a policy which classified possession of "anything more than small amounts of drugs" as a punishable offence, but this vague formulation generated a great deal of confusion.

To put an end to this grey area, the government and parliament set about describing in detail exactly how many grams of each category of drug may be tolerated by law. In doing so, they make a clear distinction between the possession and use of small amounts of drugs on the one hand, and trading in drugs on the other hand.

No legalisation
The fact that the government has painstakingly detailed permissible amounts of drugs has been interpreted by some as legalising drug use. But that is not the case.

The possession and use of smaller amounts of drugs, such as 1 gram of cocaine or 15 grams of marijuana, is no longer a punishable offence but has been downgraded to a misdemeanour which can at most result in a fine.