New rules for pot use

Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise cannabis. Despite the policy mandated on June 9, 2022, being made for medical use and wellness, the outcome was one of disarray.
Over the past two years, over 9,000 shops have mushroomed across big cities, many located in unsuitable locations and catering to recreational use.
Reports of irresponsible use and unregulated trade have only fueled fears of addiction affecting recreational users and the impacts it has on the young generation.
The problem is that the country legalised cannabis without sufficient legal oversight. The two years of legal vacuum are the handiwork of filibustering in the former parliament during Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
Opposition parties at that time — Pheu Thai, the now defunct Move Forward Party, or even coalition members like the Democrats — voted down the Cannabis-Hemp Bill, drafted by a Lower House subcommittee. The policy is a flagship of the Bhumjaithai Party.
But political winds changed after the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-biggest group in the ruling coalition, convinced Pheu Thai to keep the plant legal.
After the Paetongtarn government announced its support, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, who several months ago tried to recriminalise the plant, put the ministry draft of the Cannabis-Hemp Act up for a two-week public hearing that ends Sept 30.
The ministry will soon forward the bill for cabinet approval before forwarding it to parliament for deliberation.
Such a move is welcomed by supporters of the medical cannabis policy and concerned groups such as parent groups that wish to see proper oversights in place.
The ministry version is written to make cannabis use and trade serve the medical purposes and wellness industry.
If passed, the public health ministry will be the sole licensing agency that decides who receives harvesting, processing, and trading permits.
Unlike the past two years when cannabis growers and individuals could only inform designated local administration, the bill requires them to seek a permit from the ministry.
Although the bill will decriminalise all forms of the plant — except extracted oil with tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound that provides a “high” sensation exceeding 0.2% — it imposes harsh penalties for irresponsible recreational use.
Anyone who consumes cannabis or its extracts for uses not specified in the bill will face a fine of up to 60,000 baht, while sellers who violate the law will face a maximum one-year jail term or 100,000 baht in fines or both.
Like every legislation, this bill contains flaws.
First, the bill includes hemp — ganchong in Thai — despite its being non-psychoactive. Hemp is a plant explicitly grown for industrial and consumable use. By being included in the same legislation, investors in hemp will lose business opportunities.
Pro-cannabis group have criticised the bill for giving too much power to the ministry, diminishing the rights of local growers, patients and traditional medicine practitioners to use this plant.
But no matter the disagreement, the bill gives cannabis medical policy another chance. The ministry now has the duty to issue ministerial regulations, such as zoning laws and monitoring systems, to promote the plant’s benefits while also limiting any unwanted social impacts.