Thai cannabis fans protest, fearing rollback of decriminalisation
- Opposition lawmakers are seeking to nullify the Thai Health Ministry’s June decriminalisation of cannabis until regulatory legislation is passed
- Protesters backing liberalisation gathered in Bangkok as the Narcotics Control Board was meeting in the Thai capital to consider how to proceed
Sale and use of cannabis in Thailand were effectively decriminalised when the Public Health Ministry dropped it from its list of what it deems “narcotic” drugs.
The move was a key policy of Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who foresaw huge economic potential in the medical marijuana market. It could particularly benefit farmers, who make up a major part of the constituency of Anutin’s Bhumjai Thai Party. But no special regulatory legislation has been passed so far.
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Cannabis shops have sprang up in many Bangkok neighbourhoods along with mobile dispensaries and street stalls, even though police warned that consumption would only be allowed in private, and sales would not be allowed to youths or near schools.
The open sales have upset many conservatives, leading to a call for cannabis – or at least the psychoactive parts of the plant used to get high – to be put back on the narcotics list.