People in Thailand can now grow cannabis plants at home and sell the crop after the nation removed marijuana from its banned narcotics list.
According to reports, the nation is the first to advance such a move in South-East Asia, a region known for its stringent drug laws. But recreational use is still banned, even though advocates said the easing effectively decriminalises marijuana. The government is hoping that developing a local cannabis trade will boost agriculture and tourism. Above all, it’s even giving away one million cannabis seedlings to citizens to encourage pick-up.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, “It is an opportunity for people and the state to earn income from marijuana and hemp”, he said on his social media accounts last month (May). He shared a photo on Facebook of a chicken dish cooked with cannabis, adding that anyone could sell the dish if they followed the rules – the main one being that products must contain less than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound that gives users that “high” feeling.
When it Takes Effect
From Thursday, June 9, 2022, households will be able to cultivate up to six cannabis pot plants at home if they register with authorities, and companies can also farm the plant with a permit.
Diners will also be able to order cannabis-infused dishes and drinks at restaurants. Clinics across the country can also more freely, offer cannabis as a treatment. Thailand was the first in Asia to legalise medicinal cannabis use in 2018.
However, officials warned that using the drug for personal use is still illegal. They also warned people against smoking in public, saying it’s considered a public nuisance and offenders risked arrest.
Amnesty for Prisoners with Cannabis-related Offences?
Under the plan, the government said it also aims to release about 4,000 prisoners convicted of cannabis-related offences.
Thailand, with its year-round tropical climate, long had a history with cannabis which many locals commonly use in traditional medicines. A wider draft law on cannabis control is currently being considered in Thailand’s parliament. Advocates believe that the coming years could see a gradual relaxing of the rules governing its use.
On December 25, 2008, Thailand’s parliament voted to approve cannabis for medical use, with a key lawmaker calling it a “New Year’s gift” to the Thai people, but emphasized that its recreational use remained illegal. Before that, marijuana was used in Thailand as traditional medicine, until it was banned in the 1930s. Report suggest that South-East Asia has some of the world’s toughest penalties for drug usage or possession, and Thailand is the first in the region to allow medicinal marijuana.
Analysis on Thailand’s Cannabis Legalisation
As Thailand’s tourist economy recovers from its long COVID-19 slumber, many visitors will be wondering whether the new liberal regime governing cannabis means they can light up a joint wherever and whenever they please. But the government’s response is no, saying people cannot smoke marijuana in public, and it is still illegal to sell or supply any products containing more than 0.2% of the main hallucinogenic compound THC (the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis and one of at least 113 total cannabinoids identified on the plant).
The government claim the official goal is for Thailand to get a head start on its neighbours in winning a large slice of the lucrative market for health treatments using cannabis derivatives, particularly the milder compound CBD (a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. It is one of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants).
However, there is another motive, which is to reduce overcrowding in some of the world’s most overcrowded jails. This means, in theory, with cultivation of the plant in any quantities now completely legalised, the police are now unlikely to arrest people just for possession of marijuana. Already there are hundreds of businesses in Thailand, operating even before the new law, offering a whole range of marijuana products, like restaurants putting the leaves in Thai curries, as it will be hard for the authorities to regulate how much THC they contain. The government insists they are permitting production and consumption solely for medical, not recreational purposes, but in practice, that line is already blurred.
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