The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drafted a bill to legalise the household cultivation and consumption of cannabis and its recreational use in some locations.
FDA secretary-general Paisarn Dunkum said on Monday that his administration had drafted the bill in line with the Public Health Ministry's resolution to exclude cannabis from the narcotics list.
He said the FDA's bill would allow people to grow cannabis for their own consumption on the condition that they must report the cultivation to their respective provincial administrative organisations. Household consumption would be for medical purposes only.
Those who wish to be involved in commercial cultivation, import, export, sales and advertisements of cannabis will need FDA's approval.
Regarding the recreational use of cannabis, Dr Paisarn said it could be done in some locations that had yet to be specified.
"Of course, we won't go to the stage of cannabis cafés, but there are different models for its recreational use in other countries. We'll select the best one that suits our social context," the FDA secretary-general said.
A committee of the Public Health Ministry chaired by its permanent secretary would work out the specifications of venues for its recreational use, he said.
The bill set a jail term of three years and/or a fine of 30,000 baht for wrongdoers.
There would be a public hearing on the new bill next month, Dr Paisarn said.