Thailand Could Drop Plans to Recriminalize Cannabis

Thailand may drop its plans to re-list cannabis as a narcotic and could instead seek to better regulate the adult-use industry, according to a TIME report.

The move is a significant departure from a proposal endorsed earlier this year by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to undo the country’s 2022 cannabis decriminalization policy, under which a robust but largely unregulated industry has sprouted.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul — who leads the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest group in Srettha’s coalition government — said on Tuesday after a meeting with the prime minister and public health minister that the government is set to consider a draft bill expanding the country’s cannabis regulations.

“I thank the Prime Minister for considering this and deciding on legislation.” — Anutin to reporters on Tuesday, via TIME

Anutin, who is a member of the Narcotics Control Board and has said he opposes the effort to recriminalize cannabis, previously pushed for the country’s decriminalization policy while serving as Minister of Public Health from 2019 to 2023.

Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin noted in the report, however, that the proposal to re-list cannabis was so far unchanged and had not been withdrawn.

Earlier this year, cannabis entrepreneurs and business owners in Thailand said they were considering lawsuits if the government were to re-list cannabis as a narcotic, which would essentially shutter the entire industry.