Anutin looks to delist pot

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul presides over an event to promote Thai cannabis at the Department of Medical Sciences in Nonthaburi province in June last year. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul presides over an event to promote Thai cannabis at the Department of Medical Sciences in Nonthaburi province in June last year. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

The Public Health Ministry will on Wednesday propose to totally delist cannabis from the narcotics list, paving the way for households to grow the plant legally.

On a draft revision of the narcotics list, cannabis no longer appears as a Category 5 narcotic substance.

The draft list will be reviewed on Wednesday, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

When approved, it will be forwarded to the Narcotics Control Board chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam for further approval. The revised narcotic list will take effect after he endorses it.

It is the ministry's attempt to streamline the process for growers who will be required to notify authorities rather than seeking approval for every cannabis plant they plan to grow for household use.

However, he said growers are still required to seek permission if they make cannabis products or make cannabis extracts which must have less than 0.2% of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by weight.

The cannabis must also be locally grown.

Legalising cannabis to allow households to grow up to six plants was a key campaign pledge of the Bhumjaithai Party during the 2019 general election. The party has been criticised for failing to live up to its promise despite overseeing the Public Health Ministry for three years.

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Vocabulary

  • approve: to give official permission - อนุมัต
  • cannabis (noun): marijuana; a drug made from the dried leaves and flowers or resin of the hemp plant, which is smoked or eaten and which gives the user a feeling of being relaxed. Use of the drug is illegal in many countries. - กัญชา
  • criticised: receiving words of disapproval over something that you have supposedly done wrong - ถูกวิจารณ์, โดนว่า
  • delist: to take something of a list -
  • draft: not in a final form and likely to be changed - ร่าง
  • endorsed: officially approved - รับรอง
  • household: a group of people, often a family, who live together - ครัวเรือน
  • narcotics: illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine or crystal methamphetamine - ยาเสพย์ติด
  • permission: allowing someone to do something - การอนุญาต,การอนุมัติ,การยินยอม
  • revision: a change, improvement or addition that someone makes to something like a plan or document - การปรับปรุงใหม่, การแก้ไขใหม่
  • streamline (verb): make improvements - ปรับปรุงให้มีประสิทธิภาพขึ้น
  • substance: a particular type of liquid, solid, or gas - สาร
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