Thailand has decriminalised the cultivation and possession of cannabis, becoming the first nation in Asia to do so, with the aim to encash business opportunities in food and medicinal use of the drug.
The law passed on Thursday, however, only allows the use of cannabis for medicinal uses. Recreational smoking will still be a legal offence.
Recreational cannabis smoking in Thailand can get people a potential three-month jail sentence and a fine of 25,000 Thai baht (£578).
Extracted content remains illegal if it contains more than 0.2 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that gets people high. That’s roughly the same amount that might be found in hemp, a cannabis variety mostly grown for fibers that are used for industrial purposes.
However, it is still a major policy shift for the country that is known for its harsh drug control laws. This is the first time people in Thailand would be legally allowed to grow marijuana at home.
With this change in law, Thailand is seeking to get a piece of the pie out of the growing market for medicinal cannabis, whose benefits are generally derived from other cannabinol chemicals the plant contains.
Thailand already has a well developed medical tourism industry, and its climate is ideal for growing cannabis.
Entrepreneurs learn how to grow cannabis plants at a farm in Chonburi province
(AP)
“We should know how to use cannabis,” public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the country’s biggest marijuana booster, said recently. “If we have the right awareness, cannabis is like gold, something valuable, and should be promoted.”
But he added: “We will have additional ministry of health notifications, by the department of health. If it causes nuisances, we can use that law (to stop people from smoking).”
He said the government prefers to “build an awareness” that would be better than patrolling to check on people and using the law to punish them.
“Everything should be on the middle path,” Mr Charnvirakul said during a news conference ahead of the decriminalisation on Thursday.
Mr Charnvirakul took to Facebook last month to declare his intention to give away one million cannabis plants to members of the public.
“It is an opportunity for people and the state to earn income from marijuana and hemp,” he wrote, alongside a photo of cooked chicken seasoned with cannabis.
“Roasted marijuana chicken, 300 baht ($12) per piece. Anyone can sell it if they obey the law,” he added.
Additional reporting by agencies
