The Czech government today approved the list of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms, including hemp, coca, mescaline cactus and magic mushrooms, and decided that people would be allowed to grow up to five pieces of such plants and keep 40 magic mushrooms at home...
Beginning January 1 Czechs may grow up to five marijuana plants without fear of criminal prosecution, although it apparently will still be a misdemeanor.
Link, via.
Czechoslovakian people seem pretty cool. In 1991 I met a 19 year old kid who had been involved in the "velvet revolution" when he was still in high school, and he spoke 5 languages, was bright, laid back, and liked to get high.
The first thing the Czech people did when they had a chance to vote was to elect a poet to be their leader. His autobiography is called "Disturbing the peace" by Vaclav Havel.
Mentioning that in one list with Holland.. sigh.
Mushrooms can help migraine sufferers and have been used for centuries for aiding personal growth.
Marijuana's medicinal properties have been touted for years and its illegalization in this country is purely absurd. Even when it it is used as a recreational drug, it is still safer for the individual and the country than alcohol being used as a drug. A recent study even came out that marijuana can help people with alcohol addictions.
And as for comments above from Gorf and CrypticJ - I'm always amazed at the number of people who will just listen to what the authorities tell them and us it to make their own moral decisions - why not grow up, do some reading and make your own mind up? Because evidence tells us there is no real reason for these drugs to be illegal and the fact that they are illegal does nothing to stop people taking them anyway.
Arrest for non-violent crimes like drug possession or sale is violence. No matter what your take on drugs, less violence in the world is a good thing.
Undoubtedly, there is a risk for abuse in any drug - as in any activity (such as computer games, I know several people who have wrecked their lives with WoW and the ilk). The risk for abuse with drugs like cocaine, heroin is relatively high. I feel there is a real risk of abuse with Cannabis, too-although of course lower.
But the risk of abuse with psychedelics is low, and they offer a real possibility of personal growth and self knowledge. This is a wise decision.
How does pot offer any more possibility of personal growth and self knowledge than alcohol?
The physical act of smoking doesn't do it - in fact, that appears to blunt your senses, and make you act stupid. Doesn't alcohol do that already?
For second go and do some research about how hallucinogens work vs psychoactive drugs like ethanol or other depressants.
THEN come back and try to re-ask this question - after you have some more insight what you are talking about.