BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thailand has proposed a new bill to regulate its cannabis industry and restrict marijuana uses 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 to previous government efforts to regulate the industry. For one, it no longer contains a clause that explicitly outlaws recreational use of cannabis, which was proposed in an earlier draft by ex-premier Srettha Thavisin’s administration. It also effectively means the new government has abandoned a bid to re-classify 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 ($1,803). The sellers of cannabis or its products for uses not specified under the law faces a maximum one year jail term or 100,000 baht in fines, or both.
Such rules may hamper free use of cannabis in the Southeast Asian nation, which was the first in Asia to decriminalize the plant in 2022. 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 last year, with the ruling Pheu Thai Party vowing to re-list marijuana as a narcotic to restrict its use to just medical purposes due to concerns over addiction. But opposition from 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.
Compliance Challenges
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 favorable 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% 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,” 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.
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