Looking back to early 2023, Thailand’s climate surrounding cannabis looked incredibly different than conversations surrounding the plant today. The country made major waves after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to allow medical cannabis use in 2018, and it received global attention after decriminalizing recreational cannabis in 2022.
Though, the events that followed — including an influx of tourists openly using cannabis in public, the opening of plentiful cannabis cafes and reportedly thousands of pot shops over a handful of months with minimal quality control — quickly had leaders backtracking the historic move.
Now, nearly two months after Thailand lawmakers made the historic move, the country’s current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced that the country will move to re-list cannabis as a narcotic by the end of the year, Associated Press reports.
Thailand Presses on to Reverse Cannabis Reform Progress
The change in attitude surrounding cannabis is nothing new, as lawmakers recently approved legislation aimed to walk back cannabis reform and ban the use of recreational cannabis. The proposal clarifies that only the use of medical cannabis is allowed, while recreational cannabis is prohibited.
“Without the law to regulate cannabis it will be misused,” Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said in March, referring to recreational use. At the time, he added that approximately 20,000 cannabis shops had legally registered with the government. The new law would force any unregistered shops, which became far more abundant following Thailand’s decriminalization move, to close.
Rather, the new comments provide more insight on Srettha’s time table and future plans for recreational cannabis in Thailand.
Earlier this week, the prime minister clarified on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “I want the health ministry to amend the rules and re-list cannabis as a narcotic,” adding that the ministry should “quickly issue” a rule to limit cannabis usage …
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Author: Keegan Williams / High Times
