Thailand Unveils Proposals Making Cannabis Illegal Again And Reduce Meth Possession Limits

Thailand’s government issued a draft legislation Tuesday to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic starting Jan 1, 2025. According to the draft proposal, The Ministry of Public Health will re-list cannabis buds as a "category five" narcotic, writes Bloomberg.

Leaves, roots, extracts containing THC not more than 0.2% per weight, and cannabis seeds will remain legal. Public feedback on the proposal is open until June 25th; Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said he will listen to suggestions from both cannabis proponents and opponents.

The news follows up on a recent protest in Bangkok where hundreds of marijuana entrepreneurs gathered in a rally against the government’s decision to make marijuana illegal again.

In May, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced the intention to re-criminalize cannabis by the end of 2024, reversing a 2022 decision to decriminalize the plant, which made Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to do so. Since then, cannabis stores have proliferated in Thailand, due to a lack of proper regulation.

The new draft regulation does not mention any grace period for existing businesses to adapt to new law changes.

See Also: Six-Fold Increase In Medical Marijuana Costs One Reason For RecriminalizationIn Thailand

Pressure to reverse the cannabis law was highlighted in February after a Coldplay concert where attendees complained on social media that "the entire concert smelled like marijuana."

The question now is what will happen at the biggest Hip Hop festival in Asia – Rolling Loud Thailand – scheduled for November. The festival headliners have been just announced, and some of them are world-popular artists known to be cannabis enthusiasts such as A$AP Rocky and Wiz Khalifa, writes Lifted. Even if the draft regulation ends up law, according to the current proposal it would be enacted after this event.

Reducing Meth Possession Limit

In other news, the Thai Cabinet also reduced the legally allowed amount of methamphetamine (known as Yaba) and crystal methamphetamine (ice), reported Thaiger. If caught in possession of just one Yaba tablet or 100mg of ice, the person will be treated as a drug user. Previously drug user classification required possession of up to five tablets or 500mg, which now would be considered drug dealing.

Deputy government spokesperson Karom Pholpornklang declared the change, revealing that the reduction came as part of the government's crack down on small-scale drug dealers.

"By reducing the permissible amount of these narcotics, we aim to tackle the growing number of small-time dealers."

Previous regulation allowed for individuals found with up to four tablets to be treated as addicts requiring rehab rather than incarceration. Thepsutin acted in response to public pressure to address this loophole by lowering the threshold to one tablet.

The draft regulation has been submitted to the Cabinet for consideration and Thepsutin said that change already has 90% support from participants in recent public hearings.

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