Will the Thai Parliament run out of time to pass its legalization of cannabis? The country’s lawmakers remain divided on the main provisions of the legislation, leaving the cannabis industry in Thailand in the middle of a gray zone.
Gray areas and disagreements
The House of Representatives failed to conclude the second reading of the bill, the last session devoted to studying the plan to legalize cannabis in Thailand before the recess.
The delay was caused by certain factions of lawmakers who argued that the bill did not go far enough to deter recreational cannabis use and called for the plant to be re-listed. narcotics.
With Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha planning to dissolve parliament next month ahead of elections scheduled for May, the fate of the bill will depend on the next government. A bill must generally be adopted by a majority of deputies in three readings, before being submitted to the approval of the Senate to become a law.
Vanguard’s Ransom
Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis last year by removing the plant from the list of narcotics. Officially, only consumption for medical purposes is legal and consumption for recreational purposes cannot be repressed, under certain conditions (non-presence of children, no sale without a licence, etc.) and without being legally regulated.
This decriminalization has led to the proliferation of dispensaries that sell all kinds of cannabis products, which gives a glimpse of everything that already existed on the black market despite a very strong previous policy in the country.
Growing concerns over the impact of legalization on young people have also threatened to falter an industry estimated to be worth more than €1 billion by 2025.
The liberalization of cannabis has divided Thailand’s political parties, the Bhumjaithai party, led by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, spearheading the widespread use and cultivation of the plant by households. Many opposition parties and the Democratic Party, a member of the ruling coalition, want to return to decriminalization.
“It is clear that the bill will not pass during this session. We will resubmit the Cannabis Bill to the next parliament,” said Supachai Jaisamut, a Bhumjaithai Party lawmaker. “People who don’t want cannabis to be criminalized again should vote for Bhumjaithai.”
The government has repeatedly said that the June decriminalization is aimed at medical and commercial cannabis use rather than recreational use, although the bill fell short of explicitly banning recreational smoking.
According to Supachai, the cannabis rules issued by the Ministry of Health are sufficient to control the industry for the time being. These rules include restrictions on unpleasant odors in public, sale to pregnant women or people under 20, and commercial advertising.
