Two years after Thailand made cannabis legal, the country appears set to crack down on its freewheeling drug market with a ban on its “recreational” use.
Legal cannabis has fuelled Thailand’s tourism and farming trades and spawned thousands of neon green shops, but it is facing public backlash over perceptions that under-regulation has made the drug available to kids and caused crime.
Thailand was the first country in Asia to legalise cannabis. Decriminalisation was spearheaded by the Bhumjaithai Party, which made it a major part of its platform in the 2019 general election campaign. The party’s stronghold is in the poor northeast, where it promised farmers that cannabis would be a new cash crop.
The government introduced regulations that made cannabis a “controlled herb” that requires a license for planting or selling, as well as banning online sales, sales to pregnant women and people under 20, and public smoking.
But cannabis can be purchased easily by practically anyone at many unlicensed establishments or online.
Current Health Minister Chonlanan Srikaew said last week that he had recommended a draft Bill to the Cabinet that would ban recreational cannabis use while allowing medical usage. A draft version of the law that was circulated for public comment in January would make using cannabis “for entertainment or pleasure” a crime punishable by a 60,000 baht fine. It would allow medical marijuana, but did not give details of how it would be controlled.
