Chuvit Kamolvisit's latest controversial revelations that cast a further shadow over the government's cannabis liberalisation policy engineered by the Bhumjaithai Party should serve as a warning over the monitoring of such dispensaries, which have mushroomed in number after the government removed cannabis from the Category 5 list of narcotics in the Royal Gazette on June 9 last year.
The scene when health officials from the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine raided the "Chuweed Shop" -- a cannabis dispensary that was surprisingly located in Mr Chuvit's Davis Bangkok Hotel, raised the question of double standards.
Would health officials have insisted on a closer look if Mr Chuvit -- who claims he just rents the space to the operator -- had not attacked Bhumjaithai and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul over alleged social problems arising from legalising marijuana?
Regardless of his real motive, Mr Chuvit is right on one count: Many cannabis shops are already open in commercial and tourist areas such as the Sukhumvit, Khao San and Silom areas. It would be hopelessly naive to say that all those "dispensaries" with their green leaf logos and fancy names cater to the genuinely ill.
Meanwhile, there has been a stream of reports of misuse for recreational purposes or recreational consumers enjoying a puff in public spaces.
According to data from in.th, a specialist website on farming data and the location of cannabis shops, there are 4,033 dispensaries in Thailand, with 220 cannabis businesses now operating in Chiang Mai alone. Is a city famous for its start-ups about to become as well known for its chillouts too?
The big question is how can society, especially parents, be convincingly reassured that all these businesses comply with the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine's rules to ensure the selling of cannabis is for medical purposes alone.
Currently, the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine conducts random searches. However, its chronic lack of manpower does little to inspire hope it can close the loopholes and crack down on what is becoming a very different kind of epidemic.
Lack of trust and misuse can only have a detrimental effect on liberalisation for medical use. Political parties that campaigned against the policy are trying to reinstate the herb in Category 5.
So far, several parties have expressed concern that the policy is not improving anything except the chances for small-time "entrepreneurs" to make quick gains from a highly profitable product. So far, the draft has stalled in parliament, and it remains unclear whether this version will ever see the light of day.
While society waits for a new government, the present one, with assistance from responsible agencies, must work harder to regulate use and monitor consumption.
The government needs to improve how it cascades duties through its ranks to improve the auditing standards at these dispensaries. Responsible businesses must be rewarded. The government must also educate stakeholders, ie dispensaries and users, on what they can and cannot do.
As cannabis is not a narcotic now, the tourism industry and some food and beverage companies have jumped on the bandwagon, and this requires a clear message and set of rules from the government.
Without achieving the right balance between freedom and regulation, cannabis legalisation is a policy that now looks under threat of disappearing in a cloud of its own smoke.
