Three years after Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalize cannabis, experts and politicians agree urgent action is needed to curb damaging impacts from the weed boom.
Meanwhile, cannabis users and vendors are anxiously awaiting this month’s regulatory changes – including a medical certificate requirement – that could cut off access to marijuana at thousands of shops nationwide.
Up until now, efforts to control rampant cannabis use have come to nothing. Despite loud complaints about the social and medical fallout from recreational marijuana, Parliament has yet to pass a regulatory law to rein in the problems.
Long list of negative impacts
Healthcare costs linked to marijuana use have surged since legalization, said Assoc Prof Dr Ratsamon Kalayasiri, director of the Centre for Addiction Studies.
“The costs reached 15.82 billion baht [US$488 million] in 2023,” she said, citing findings from a study on the impacts of decriminalization conducted by her centre in collaboration with researchers from Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University.
Removing cannabis from the narcotics list on February 8, 2022 triggered a “green gold rush”, with marijuana parlours mushrooming across Thailand as legal penalties for sale, use and possession vanished overnight.
Ratsamon noted that weed shops had sprung up nationwide, especially in tourist areas like Bangkok’s Khaosan Road backpacking hub.
She also pointed to weak regulations and lax enforcement.
“Most shops aren’t complying with the rules – failing even to check the age of buyers,” she said.
Under current law, the minimum age to buy, possess or use cannabis is 20.
However, recreational use of marijuana has soared among teenagers, Ratsamon said. The percentage of users aged 18 to 19 jumped from 0.9 in 2019 to 9.7% in 2022.
Growing use has also taken a toll on public health.Between 2022 and 2023, the universal healthcare scheme recorded a hike in the number of patients with cannabis-related symptoms spanning acute intoxication to psychotic disorders.
Meanwhile, community leaders say decriminalisation of weed has undermined longstanding efforts to tackle rampant drug use in deprived neighbourhoods.
Rangsan Chuenprasert, leader of Wat Amphawa Community and member of the Risk Reduction Community Network, laments that years of combating narcotic use in his community had been undone by the widespread availability of cannabis.
“Legalization means youngsters now have easy access to marijuana. You can even see cannabis plants growing behind house fences,” he said, adding that pot shops have also sprung up on almost every street.
He warns that easy access to cannabis encourages youth to try stronger, addictive drugs like heroin.
“We urgently need to push for a law to control cannabis usage,” he emphasized.
Six draft laws pending
At least six draft laws on cannabis regulation, including one from the Thai Drug Watch Centre (TDWC) and partners, are awaiting parliamentary scrutiny.
“We must monitor and push for progress towards a law that ends the regulatory vacuum,” said Asst Prof Dr Niyada Kiattiying-Angsulee, the centre’s manager. “Our bill is designed to impose proper controls as well as protections for consumers, especially young people.”
Paisan Limsathit, executive director at Thammasat University’s Health and Ethics Law Centre, said removing cannabis from the narcotics list had put people’s health at risk and breached international drugs law.
Watcharapong Poomchuen, director and secretary of the Substance Abuse Academic Foundation (SAAF), said numerous countries had expressed concerns over Thailand’s move and warned their travelling citizens not to bring hemp or cannabis back to their homeland, where the substances remained illegal.
Likewise, Thai embassies have repeatedly warned Thai travellers to not carry cannabis out of the country to avoid legal trouble abroad.
“Cannabis has both benefits and downsides, of course. But our wrongheaded cannabis policy has victimised the public over the past three years,” Watcharapong said. “Marijuana is destroying the health and dreams of Thai youth.”
It was high time that the public demanded answers from policymakers as to who really benefited from the rampant use of marijuana, he added.
Paisan says a network of health organizations is now gathering a public petition in support of the cannabis control bill proposed by the people’s sector.
“We should limit use to medical marijuana,” he said, adding that efforts to regulate consumption by declaring cannabis a controlled herb have failed to curb recreational marijuana.
Paisan demands that the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine release data on the number of licensed marijuana shops and parlors operating in Thailand, and how many have been prosecuted for breaking the law.
Echoing that call is Smith Srisont, president of the Forensic Physician Association of Thailand. He wants to know how many shops have lost their licences and how many operators have faced legal action.
Niyada said she was not opposed to using marijuana for medical reasons but insisted distribution and usage had to be controlled.
“The government must introduce an effective law, monitor enforcement, and evaluate the results,” she said.
Public Health Ministry’s stance
Last month, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin ordered the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM) to tighten cannabis control within 40 days.
Under the new regulations, due this month, a doctor’s prescription will be required to purchase cannabis to treat symptoms such as seizures, headache and insomnia.
Prescriptions will limit the amount of cannabis dispensed to each user. Quality controls will also be imposed via the department’s Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP).
The Public Health Ministry’s revised draft regulation was open for public feedback online until June 15.
Dr Somlerk Jeunsmarn, director-general of the DTAM, said 47 farms comply with GACP – which are based on the European Union’s Good Manufacturing Practice. The farms supply between 17,000 and 18,000 licensed marijuana shops in Thailand, he added.
“Most of them are small operators.”
Somlerk said the revised regulation will require cannabis operators to renew their licenses every three years, with violations punishable by suspension or revocation.
“We also plan to cover details such as limiting prescriptions to around 30 grams of marijuana per user per month,” he added.
