Thailand stops listing cannabis as a narcotic and opts for tighter regulation

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced today that the government will work to control the use of cannabis through regulation, rather than relisting the plant as a narcotic. This is “another political turnaround” in the cannabis situation in the country, reported the Bangkok Post.

According to the Thai newspaper, Charnvirakul spoke to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin about the party's concerns about the Ministry of Public Health's plan to relist cannabis as a narcotic, warning that the proposal lacked evidence to justify recriminalization. of the plant, and urged the prime minister to carry out further studies before making that decision.

Anutin Charnvirakul announced this Tuesday, July 24th, that the Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, agreed that the legislation was the right step to take and will have then given guidance to control the plant instead of re-listing it as a narcotic .

“I thank the Prime Minister for considering this matter and deciding to issue a law,” said Anutin, after a meeting with Prime Minister and Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin.

Thailand has seen rapid growth in the domestic cannabis trade sector, an industry expected to be worth up to $1,2 billion by 2025, according to the The Independent.

Advances and setbacks in the cannabis situation in Thailand

In 2022, Thailand became one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, but without a law regulating it or preventing its recreational use.

Before that, Thailand had already approved the removing cannabis from the narcotics list and removed the hemp extracts e hemp from the list of controlled substances. The then Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul, surprised the world by announcing that he wanted offer one million cannabis plants to the Thais and guaranteed that the inhabitants of Thailand could grow as many cannabis plants as they wanted in their own homes, as long as it was for medicinal purposes, guaranteeing that official registration would not be necessary for self-cultivation. He then authorized self-cultivation of up to 6 plants by family and surprised the world by declaring four varieties of cannabis as heritage national.

These measures provoke an explosion in recreational use, cafes and cannabis traders, along with public concern about its abuse and protests by health professionals.

The Bhumjaithai Party then drafted a bill to regulate the use of cannabis, but it failed to pass first reading before elections were called last year.

The first setback occurred in September 2023, when the Chamber of Deputies backed down on the legalization of cannabis, with the favorable vote of the Pheu Thai, Democrat and Phalang Pracharath parties. The regulation that legalized cannabis in Thailand thus returned to the drafting committee for amendments, with the vote being heavily criticized by the Minister of Public Health at the time, Anutin Charnvirakul, a great defender of the plant in the country. Earlier this year, Thailand began a public consultation process to evaluate the bill that intended to ban the recreational use of cannabis

The current Pheu Thai Party-led government has maintained that recreational use of cannabis would not be permitted under new regulations drawn up by the Ministry of Public Health. Srettha also previously stated that the plant would be placed back on the narcotics list, with exceptions permitted for medical use and research. The announcement started numerous protests by civil society, producers, traders and activists, who demanded the use of the plant, despite being confident that this step back would not happen – which ended up being confirmed today. It remains to be seen how and what legislation will now be implemented for cannabis in Thailand, where the plant has a very well-rooted traditional use.