Vending machines in the Olomouc Region sold children synthetic marijuana more dangerous than heroin

In several Moravian towns — Olomouc, Prostějov, Brno, Zlín, Přerov and Otrokovice — street vending machines branded Still Chill were selling synthetic marijuana containing the banned substance MDMB-PINACA, a drug whose danger has been compared to heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. Anyone, regardless of age, could buy it — none of the nine machines had any system to verify a buyer's age.

An analysis carried out by the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, commissioned by the newsroom of Seznam Zprávy, confirmed the presence of MDMB-PINACA in four samples purchased by children and a journalist from a machine in the Nové Sady housing estate in Olomouc. According to Martin Kuchař, head of the forensic laboratory for biologically active substances, the compound has been on the list of banned psychoactive substances since last autumn, meaning its sale constitutes a serious offence.

A synthetic cannabinoid more potent than natural THC

MDMB-PINACA is a lab-made synthetic cannabinoid. It acts on the same brain receptors as ordinary THC, but its effect is 10 to 100 times stronger. Substances from this group have already been linked to documented cases of fatal poisoning and severe complications.

According to the National Anti-Drug Centre, since November 2025, when the substance was added to the banned list, the number of poisonings from synthetic drugs has risen sharply: between January and May 2026, 161 cases were recorded, 119 of them involving children and teenagers. The new drug has already been linked to at least four deaths.

The story of a fifteen-year-old girl from Prostějov

Fifteen-year-old Marie (name changed) from Prostějov first tried ordinary marijuana while working a summer job — the effect was mild and pleasant. In autumn, a friend showed her a Still Chill vending machine near the Anděl shopping centre, where a gram of "weed" cost a hundred crowns. This time the effect was entirely different: intense paranoia, a sinking feeling, memory loss, uncontrollable bouts of euphoria, and screaming that could be heard around the neighbourhood.

Despite these severe episodes, the girl smoked the synthetic substance daily and couldn't stop. Her mother, Zdenka (also a pseudonym), noticed something was wrong after three weeks: a strange smell in a household of non-smokers, skipped school days, and eventually money stolen from the whole family to buy more doses. "The addiction formed incredibly fast — we're talking about a matter of weeks," Zdenka says.

The girl was hospitalised several times due to intoxication and underwent two months of treatment for addiction and self-harm in a children's psychiatric ward. Her last relapse happened at the end of May, when after two puffs Marie lost control of herself and lay screaming on the grass outside a shop, convinced she was dying. Now, she says, she has been twelve weeks clean of the synthetic drug — ever since police seized the contents of the vending machines and the family's life began returning to normal.

Who is behind the vending machines

The Still Chill machines and online shop belong to Damaon, a company based in Olomouc. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority had already fined the company three times in 2022–2023, totalling 55,000 crowns, for failing to provide information about the harms of the kratom sold in its machines. In June this year, the firm received an additional fine of 50,000 crowns for failing to verify the age of buyers of smokable plant products.

According to the newsroom, around two dozen children ended up in intensive care because of the Still Chill machines. At the end of June, police seized the contents of all nine machines and are now conducting forensic testing; the products have also disappeared from the company's online shop. A separate inspection by the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority is ongoing, with results yet to be announced.

Marek Vlk, the 30-year-old co-owner of the firm, has refused to speak to journalists and has not responded to calls or messages for two months. His father told the newsroom that police searched the family home and the company's warehouse in Olomouc but, according to him, found nothing. He admitted he had never approved of his son's business, though his son assured his parents he was operating within Czech law and that roughly three hundred companies in the country run similar businesses.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz