Thailand unveils new Bill to regulate cannabis while keeping it legal
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Under the draft legislation, cannabis or its extracts will be allowed for medical treatment and research by state agencies.
PHOTO: AFP
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BANGKOK – Thailand has proposed a new Bill to regulate its cannabis industry and restrict marijuana use to primarily health and medical purposes, the latest effort to rein in recreational smoking after several policy U-turns.
Under the draft legislation, cannabis or its extracts will be allowed for medical treatment and research by state agencies besides its use in herbal, food and cosmetic products.
The new Bill was published earlier this week by the Ministry of Public Health, just days after the new administration of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took office
The draft Bill appears to take a softer stance, compared with previous government efforts to regulate the industry.
For one thing, it no longer contains a clause that explicitly outlaws recreational use of cannabis, which was proposed in an earlier draft by former premier Srettha Thavisin’s administration.
It also means the new government has effectively abandoned a bid to reclassify the plant as a “narcotic”.
Still, anyone who consumes cannabis or its extracts for uses not specified in the Bill will face a fine of up to 60,000 baht (S$2,340).
Sellers of cannabis or its products for uses not specified under the law face a maximum one-year jail term, 100,000 baht in fines, or both.
Such rules may hamper free use of cannabis in the South-east Asian nation, which was the first in Asia to decriminalise the plant
A legal vacuum has allowed more than 9,400 cannabis dispensaries to open nationwide, with many in popular tourist areas and business districts in Bangkok and beyond.
The easy availability of the drug became a hot-button political issue during the national election in 2023, with the ruling Pheu Thai Party vowing to relist marijuana as a narcotic to restrict its use to just medical purposes, due to concerns over addiction.
But opposition from the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-biggest group in the ruling coalition, has forced Pheu Thai to walk back on its pledge and keep the plant legal.
The draft legislation calls for licensing rules on cannabis planting, sales, exports and imports all to be tightened, with current growers, suppliers or related businesses required to have or apply for new licenses or permits – or face hefty jail terms or fines.
While the Bill is a more favourable path for the cannabis industry, it may yet pose a compliance challenge for growers, dispensaries and a vast number of consumer-agro firms that have cropped up across Thailand.
They sell everything from cannabis buds to oil extracts and weed-infused candy to baked goods that, according to the current law, must contain no more than 0.2 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol – the psychoactive compound that provides a “high” sensation.
“The Bill provides for wider uses of cannabis to be in line with reality, but it still requires the supervision of licensed medical practitioners,” Mr Prasitchai Nunual, a pro-cannabis activist, said in a Facebook post. “That’s exclusionary and subjects an individual’s rights to the permission of practitioners. What it should say instead is that uses must not infringe on others’ rights.”
The public and industry stakeholders have until Sept 30 to submit feedback on the proposed Bill.
The Health Ministry may still make changes to the legislation before submitting it to the Cabinet, which must then send it to Parliament for approval. BLOOMBERG
