Thailand has recently proposed a new bill to regulate its cannabis industry and limit marijuana use primarily to health and medical purposes. This move is part of ongoing attempts to control recreational smoking following several policy reversals.
The proposed legislation allows the use of cannabis and its extracts for medical treatment and research by government entities, as well as in herbal, food, and cosmetic products.
The Public Health Ministry published the new bill earlier this week, just days after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s administration assumed office.
The proposed legislation takes a softer approach than previous governmental attempts to regulate the cannabis sector.
Notably, it removes a provision that directly banned recreational cannabis use, previously suggested in an earlier version by former Premier Srettha Thavisin’s administration.
This change also signifies that the new administration has dropped plans to reclassify cannabis as a “narcotic.”
However, anyone using cannabis or its extracts for purposes not outlined in the bill could be fined up to 60,000 baht. Additionally, selling cannabis or its products for non-approved uses could result in up to a year in prison, fines up to 100,000 baht, or both.
These regulations could restrict the free use of cannabis in Thailand, which became the first Asian country to decriminalize the plant in 2022.
Since decriminalization, over 9,400 cannabis dispensaries have opened across the country, including in major tourist and business areas in Bangkok and other regions.
The widespread availability of cannabis became a contentious issue during the last national election, with the ruling Pheu Thai Party pledging to categorize marijuana as a narcotic to limit its use strictly to medical applications amid addiction concerns.
However, resistance from the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest faction in the ruling coalition, pressured Pheu Thai to retract its promise and maintain the legality of the plant.
Compliance Challenges
The draft bill demands stricter licensing for cannabis cultivation, sales, exports, and imports, compelling current operators to secure new licenses or permits or face severe penalties.
While the bill presents a more favorable outlook for the cannabis industry, it poses potential compliance challenges for cultivators, dispensaries, and numerous consumer-agro businesses across Thailand.
These businesses sell products ranging from cannabis buds to oil extracts and weed-infused confections to baked goods, which under the current law, can only contain up to 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol—the psychoactive element that induces a high.
“The bill provides for wider uses of cannabis to be in line with reality, but it still requires the supervision of licensed medical practitioners,” said Prasitchai Nunual, a cannabis advocate, on Facebook.
“That’s exclusionary and subjects an individual’s rights to the permission of practitioners. What it should say instead is that uses must not infringe on others’ rights.”
The public and stakeholders in the industry have until September 30 to provide feedback on the bill. The ministry might revise the legislation before presenting it to the cabinet, which will then need to pass it to Parliament for approval.
