The government is seeking to tighten control over the country’s nascent cannabis industry, revising a draft bill to prevent misuse of the plant after previously vowing to curb its recreational use.
A new draft of the cannabis bill, which failed to clear parliamentary hurdles before the election in May, has been significantly rewritten to reflect concerns that misuse of cannabis could lead to addiction, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said in a statement.
“Between economic and health benefits, we put health first,” he said.
However, Dr Cholnan did not say whether the government would go as far as banning the recreational use of cannabis.
The thousands of businesses that have sprung up since cannabis was decriminalised are anxiously awaiting clarity about their futures.
The revisions include tighter measures to plug loopholes that allow the use of marijuana for recreation, new protocols for cultivation and criminal penalties, the minister said. The draft bill will likely be submitted for cabinet approval in December.
The move to rewrite the bill follows Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s pledge to restrict the use of marijuana to medical purposes, after thousands of weed shops opened across the country since the country became the first in Asia to decriminalise cannabis.
An ongoing regulatory vacuum, following the delisting of marijuana as a narcotic in June last year, has led to a proliferation of dispensaries — estimated to total 6,000 — all over the country. They sell everything from cannabis buds to oil extracts containing less than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol — the psychoactive compound that gives users a “high” sensation.
The Pheu Thai Party promoted a hard-line anti-drug campaign ahead before the May 14 election, vowing to again classify cannabis as a narcotic. But it is now in a coalition with the 71-seat Bhumjaithai Party led by Anutin Charnvirakul, which had spearheaded the move to decriminalise the crop when it was part of the previous government.
The draft bill will undergo more reviews and the government will receive stakeholders’ feedback before finalising the text next month, said the minister.
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