Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday said that cannabis would be relisted as a narcotic by the end of 2024.

Writing on his X account, Mr Srettha said he wanted the Ministry of Public Health to issue a regulation allowing only medicinal use of cannabis.

Thailand in 2022 became one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalise marijuana. While the idea was to promote medicinal use, recreational use skyrocketed.

The previous government failed in its attempts to pass a cannabis bill. The Ministry of Public Health has drafted a new bill that the former minister, Cholnan Srikaew, hoped to get through Parliament before the end of 2024.

The bill would clearly spell out approved medicinal uses of the plant, as well as what forms of consumption would be banned.

The new minister, Somsak Thepsuthin, said this week that he wanted to listen to people’s opinions first before making a final decision on the future of cannabis. He said the process would not take long.

Mr Srettha, meanwhile, said that the drug problem in the country is a major national agenda item and all agencies must work together to solve it. He said he wanted to see “clear results” within 90 days.

“Drugs are a problem that destroys the future of the country. Many young people are addicted,” he said.

The move to re-criminalise cannabis comes despite rapid growth of a domestic retail market for marijuana, with thousands of shops and businesses springing up in the past two years. One study projected that the industry would be worth up to $1.2 billion by 2025.

Changing the rules again would be a bad move for the economy and deal a big blow to small businesses and consumers, said the Cannabis Future Network.