Thailand Looking for Public Opinion on Draft Bill to Outlaw Recreational Marijuana Use

Thailand is seeking public opinion on a draft bill meant to outlaw the recreational use of marijuana in the country.

In 2021, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to decriminalize cannabis. Now cannabis use flourishes in Thailand following legalisation and insufficient regulation.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is against the recreational use of marijuana amid concerns about drug abuse and has promised that his government would only support the medical use of cannabis.

“We drafted this law to prohibit the wrong usage of cannabis,” Thai Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew told the media this week.

According to him all recreational usage of cannabis is wrong.

The new draft bill that allows only medical and health uses of cannabis was published on Thailand’s health ministry’s website on Tuesday. This bill outlaws all recreational use of marijuana with fines of up to 60,000 baht ($1,700) for recreational use. Marketing campaigns regarding the recreational use of marijuana will invite jail terms of up to a year or fines ranging as high as 100,000 baht.

The punishment for illegal cannabis farming ranges from jail terms of one to three years, as well as fines from 20,000 baht to 300,000 baht.

The deadline for public feedback over the matter is Jan 23.