Couple faces five years in jail; plants discovered when police responded to disturbance call

Ostrava, North Moravia, April 5 (ČTK) — A Czech married couple was growing some 20 plants of cannabis in a special box, but the wife told the intervening police these were orchids, regional police spokeswoman Gabriela Holčaková told the Czech News Agency.

The couple then produced marijuana from the plants.

The detectives seized 17 plants, Holcakova said.

If convicted, the couple may be sentenced up to five years in prison, Holčaková said.

The police uncovered the mini-lab by chance, she added.

The man faced some health problems, behaving aggressively. He destroyed the furniture in the flat.

The legalization of medical marijuana has failed in the Czech Republic because the high prices of imported cannabis make it inaccessible to large segments of the population.
The Czech government wants to promote the local cultivation of marijuana after failing to legalize the drug for therapeutic purposes due to the high price of imported cannabis.
The law to facilitate the use of marijuana for medical purposes through the controlled sale in pharmacies, passed in 2012 and has been in force since the end of 2014.

The goal is for patients to have access to cannabis at reasonable prices, but the existing restrictions on growing has forced them to import Indian hemp, which has driven the price to levels unaffordable for most patients.

Experts estimate that "the current system of drug control has failed" and that health authorities should decide on the use of cannabis.

The scientific evidence for medical benefits of cannabis appear to be more convincing. And according to experts, the results of many relevant and declining legal prohibition studies should force public health officials to decide quickly about the use of cannabis.

"The World Health Organization (WHO) will probably soon adopt a new position on cannabis, given the pressure it undergoes", explained Pavel Pachta, former deputy secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board ( INCB), before an audience of experts gathered at the International Conference on the medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids, held since Wednesday in Prague.

OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp’s (OTCQB: OWCP) wholly owned subsidiary of One World Cannabis Ltd., an Israeli research and development company focused on cannabis-based products and treatments, announced that it would be a senior presenter at the “Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids” Conference organized by the Czech Republic Ministry on March 4-7, 2015.

It’s only a matter of time until marijuana will be legal everywhere. Colorado and Washington are clearly only the beginning. For now medical marijuana which is getting legalized around the world and several Israeli forms have already placed themselves at the forefront of cannabis research.

In this Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Martina Kafkova, a patient diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, smokes a joint at her home in Tyn nad Vltavou, Czech Republic. Confined to a wheelchair, the former non-smoker needs five short joints a day to get relief from severe stiffness, painful spasms and breathing troubles because other available medicine is not effective enough to help. Czech Republic has approved legislation for use of medical marijuana but it is still impossible to obtain it legally. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)