BANGKOK: Thailand is canvassing public opinion on a draft Bill outlawing recreational use of cannabis after more than a year in which marijuana-related businesses flourished following legalisation and insufficient regulation.
The first Southeast Asian nation to decriminalise cannabis in 2021, Thailand spawned an industry worth up to a projected US$1.2 billion in the next few years, as thousands of dispensaries sprang up, along with spas, restaurants and festivals.
Rushed and piecemeal rules adopted within a week of decriminalisation sought to curb its use but left loopholes for recreational use.
The changes, aiming to deliver on an election promise, come after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin spoke out against recreational use amid concerns of drug abuse and vowed that his government would only support medical use.
“We drafted this law to prohibit the wrong usage of cannabis,” Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew told media this week.
“All recreational usage is wrong.”
Published on the health ministry’s website on Tuesday (Jan 9), the new draft will allow only medical and health uses of cannabis, while outlawing all types of recreational use.
