Relisting cannabis as a narcotic will make it easier to control the use of the plant for positive purposes such as medicinal use, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Tuesday.
The government aims to allow cannabis to be used for medicinal purposes, to promote good health and to stimulate the economy, he said. He was responding to growing calls by pro-cannabis groups and political parties for a law to control its use rather than blacklisting it completely.
He drew attention to the cannabis and hemp bill proposed by the Bhumjaithai Party during the previous parliament, after the government removed cannabis from the Narcotic Drug List in June 2022. That bill passed its first reading but was later rejected in the second reading in the lower House. Mr Somsak said it failed due to its shortcomings.
The resulting legal vacuum led to the proliferation of businesses selling cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use. Complaints about pot-smoking in public skyrocketed. The current government has yet to clarify what impact its bill will have on the cannabis business overall.
Mr Somsak dismissed accusations that the government listened only to anti-cannabis groups, while not allowing pro-cannabis groups to have their say at past forums organised by the Ministry of Public Health.
Those groups opposing the government’s intention to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic have been invited to provide reasons why they could not agree with this policy since May 16, said Mr Somsak.
The groups supporting the government’s policy were invited to a meeting to express their opinions on Saturday, he added.
Mr Somsak said earlier that permits would be required to grow and use cannabis for medical purposes and research, and recreational use will be banned under new legislation.
He insisted the permit system would not place an unreasonable burden on the public, adding that there would be a grace period for the public to adjust.
Meanwhile, Bhumjaithai has questioned the government’s claim that legalising cannabis has resulted in rising healthcare costs associated with its abuse, with such costs surging from 3 billion baht just before it was decriminalised to 20 billion baht last year.
Mr Somsak said this was official data supplied by a government office.
Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in his capacity as leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, said that if the government intends to relist cannabis as a narcotic, it must demonstrate what has changed to justify overturning its decision a couple of years ago to make it legal.
“What has been left unexplained is why we are not pushing to pass a cannabis and hemp control law instead. Also, why hasn’t the vast increase in cannabis use for medicinal purposes been mentioned?” asked Mr Anutin.
Bhumjaithai successfully pushed to decriminalise cannabis, as promised to its voters, he said.
If the current administration wants to reverse that decision, it will have to give a clear explanation to those who have invested millions of baht in the cannabis business, he said.
