An overwhelming majority of respondents in a Thai government poll supported the Southeast Asian country’s plan to reclassify marijuana as a narcotic and ban its recreational use.
At least 80 percent of 111,201 respondents supported the draft plan to re-label marijuana as “category five” next yr, based on Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin. The Food and Drug Administration gathered public comments on the draft regulation from June 11 to June 25.
Thailand, which two years ago became the primary country in Asia to decriminalize marijuana use, made a policy U-turn earlier this yr when Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered steps to curb its use for medical and health purposes. The move got here after concerns concerning the social and health impacts, especially on children and young people, resulting from a surge in marijuana outlets across the country.
Recreational marijuana use damages brain development and results in depression and suicide, Somsak said earlier this month. He said about 40 percent of young Thais hooked on heroin began with marijuana.
Under the brand new rules, cannabis buds will probably be classified as narcotics, while the use of varied other parts of the plant, including roots and leaves, will remain legal. The government will review public comments before sending the draft regulation to the Narcotics Control Board for approval, Somsak said Wednesday.
Cannabis consumer health groups and businesses have voiced their opposition to the policy change, holding rallies and threatening legal motion against the prime minister.
“Business operators don’t have a problem” with the brand new rules, Somsak said. “It’s those who want to use recreational activities who have a problem.”
Former Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s administration decriminalized marijuana in 2022 to permit the plant to be cultivated for medicinal and business purposes.
Nearly 8,000 outlets and a slew of consumer-agricultural businesses have sprung up across Thailand, selling every little thing from cannabis buds to grease extracts to marijuana-infused candies and baked goods. Under current decriminalization laws, cannabis products must contain not more than 0.2 percent tetrahydrocannabinol—the psychoactive compound that gets you high—to be considered legal.
