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Politics


THAILAND SET TO MAKE CANNABIS ILLEGAL AGAIN IN POLICY U-TURN

 * PM Srettha to walk back on landmark decriminalization policy
 * Previous health chief proposed to ban recreational use only

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Liberal use of cannabis in Thailand became a hot-button political issue ahead of
the national election last year. 

Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg
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By Patpicha Tanakasempipat
May 8, 2024 at 6:06 AM GMT+2
Updated on
May 8, 2024 at 1:03 PM GMT+2
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2:39

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered a u-turn on the country’s
landmark cannabis policy, saying the plant should be soon classified as a
narcotic again and its use limited to medical and health purposes.

The Ministry of Public Health will re-classify cannabis as a “category five”
narcotic, which makes it a crime to possess and consume, after Thailand became
the first country in Asia to decriminalize the plant two years ago, Srettha said
in post on X on Wednesday.

The policy volte-face is another blow to Thailand’s nascent cannabis industry
after decriminalization was pitched as a way to boost agricultural income and
wellness tourism. Srettha had vowed to restrict the use of marijuana to just
medical purposes.

Liberal use of cannabis became a hot-button political issue ahead of the
Thailand’s national election last year. With efforts to establish regulations
around the marijuana industry failing, a legal vacuum has fueled drug addiction,
according to some politicians.

Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party promoted a hard-line anti-drug campaign ahead of the
election and pledged to eradicate drugs from Thai society. Earlier this week,
the premier gave a 90-day deadline for law enforcement and local authorities to
crack down on drugs in 25 provinces considered as “red zones.”

Expand

Cannabis stores in Bangkok.Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

Newly-appointed Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin had hinted that a rethink on
the marijuana policy was in the works when he said on Tuesday that the ministry
is in the process of gathering public opinion to determine how to regulate the
plant.



Somsak’s predecessor, Cholnan Srikaew, told Bloomberg earlier this year that he
would seek to ban recreational use of cannabis, threatening to put out of
business thousands of marijuana shops and farms that have sprung up around the
country over the last two years.

Read more on Thailand’s cannabis policy
 * Thailand Aims Clampdown on Recreational Cannabis by Year-End
 * Thailand to Ban Cannabis Smoking in Blow to Nascent Industry
 * Legal Marijuana at Crossroads in Thai Election as Backlash Grows
 * Thailand’s Cannabis Industry Clouded as Legal Threats Emerge

A bill seeking to outlaw recreational use, tighter licensing rules on planting,
sales, exports and imports of cannabis was delayed while going through
bureaucratic process, as opposition from industry groups mounted. Cholnan’s
proposal failed to get a cabinet approval by March as planned.

Former prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s administration decriminalized cannabis
in 2022 to free up the plant for medicinal use and as a cash crop.

Almost 8,000 dispensaries and a large number of consumer-agro firms have cropped
up across Thailand, selling everything from cannabis buds to oil extracts and
weed-infused candy to baked goods. Under current decriminalization laws,
cannabis products must not contain more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol — the
psychoactive compound that provides a “high” sensation — to be considered legal.



(Recasts throughout.)

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