Recreational use of pot to be recriminalised as Minister warns abuses are undermining his plan

[webfact]

The National Police Commissioner General Suwat Jang­yod­suk (right centre) has asked the Ministry of Public Health for time to have legal experts review a letter from the ministry calling for enforcement of a 1999 law which purports to control the use of cannabis as authorities scramble to find a way to rein in uncontrolled recreational use of the drug following the June 9th decriminalisation of marijuana and a growing backlash from influential groups including medical experts and the Muslim community in Thailand. On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul (inset left), emphatically announced that the recreational use of cannabis was still illegal in Thailand and would be controlled further with a new law before parliament which will criminalise smoking of the flower part of the cannabis plant and redesignate it as a narcotic substance.

 

by Joseph O' Connor

 

The decriminalisation of marijuana is turning into a major problem for the government with chaos in ministries and agencies responsible including an anxious request to police for enforcement of an older law.

 

On Wednesday, Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, the architect of the drive to decriminalise the drug, told reporters unequivocally that recreational use of cannabis was still illegal as his ministry attempted to get police to enforce a 1999 law while the minister himself promised that legislation before parliament would again make cannabis as a recreational drug strictly illegal and open the way to effective police enforcement. In the meantime, Mr Anutin warned those abusing the hiatus between legal measures, that they were undermining the signature project of his Bhumjaithai Party in government.

 

Urgent efforts appear to be underway within the government to roll back the decriminalisation of cannabis in Thailand which came into effect on June 9th last and which is generating increased and heated opposition both within and outside the country’s halls of power with a letter signed by 851 medical practitioners this week and a powerful submission from the minority Muslim Community calling for the decriminalisation of the drug to be reversed.

 

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/07/30/recreational-pot-cannabis-use-to-be-recriminalised/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Examiner 2022-08-01

 

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[Jerno]

What a bunch of idiots.  Planning decriminalization but nothing else to control the outcome.  These govt guys couldn't plan themselves out of a paper bag if their life depended on it!  Of course they couldn't possibly follow Canada's sucessfyl cannabis decriminalization. 3 years ago...Thai know better.  Pray-hoot and his cronies haven't got a clue how to govern.  Another reason Thailand will never achieve 1st world level. Military far too involved in politics and businesses.   

[lupin]

Can anyone else hear the sound of "The Benny Hill Show" theme song playing in the background?

 

[Gecko123]

Last week I wrote: "I think people who are arguing "the cat's out of the bag" and that the open sale and usage of cannabis for recreational purposes is here to stay are kidding themselves. A major walk back is in the works." https://aseannow.com/topic/1267118-the-cannabis-debate-continues-but-can-thailand-control-it/?do=findComment&comment=175050682.

 

In hindsight it now appears that last week's Aseannow article with the headline "Anutin: No U-turn on marijuana" gave a misleading account of the government's actual position on recreational cannabis use.   https://aseannow.com/topic/1267138-anutin-no-u-turn-on-marijuana-minister-pressing-ahead-with-use-of-drug-in-two-trillion-baht-wellness-tourism/page/2/

 

Refraining from intoxicants which cloud the mind is one of the five Buddhist Precepts for leading a moral life. It is thus inconceivable that Thailand's Buddhist clergy isn't as equally opposed to the recreational use of cannabis as the leadership of the Islamic Committee. I suspect the only reason why Thailand's Buddhist senior leadership has not already voiced similar opposition is out of a reluctance to wade into political controversy. It only serves to foment religious bigotry to focus on the Islamic Committee's voiced opposition when everyone knows full well that recreational cannabis use is equally interdicted by Buddhist teachings.

 

[bamnutsak]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

On Wednesday, Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, the architect of the drive to decriminalise the drug, told reporters unequivocally that recreational use of cannabis was still illegal as his ministry attempted to get police to enforce a 1999 law

 

And on Thursday he changed his mind and that order was withdrawn.

 

And the order simply covered the need to for licensing of those selling Cannabis.

 

And I don't think he's ever said unequivocally that recreational use is or should be illegal. He's waffled, mumbled, gesticulated about medical/health/commerciall uses and benefits.

 

This opinion piece earns an F, the equivalent of a Thai "B". Not exactly sure who the author's audience is exactly?

 

 

 

48 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

It is thus inconceivable that Thailand's Buddhist clergy

Tha Sangha is a sock puppet.

 

 

 

[2baht]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Minister of Public Health

Smart?....................... Not very!

[RichardColeman]

Guessing the covid prevention decision team have new jobs in weed roll out and now are yoyoing there too

[internationalism]

if recriminalised would they put back to prisons some 100k inmates?

as there are 1mln plants given to public by the government, and millions more bought recently, there is no way to stop growers and users by any means.

millions have registered on an the governmental application as growers. 

probably thousands registered, already licensed, sellers.

Ganja on 7/11, big C and the others shops shelves.

[gk10012001]

Horrible sensationalistic article headline.  It purports that recriminalizing is a fact, when in truth it is just this guys's desire and request.

[Gottfrid]

Ok, they are undecided as usual, going back and forth. Nothing new, though! However, I hail the proposal of recriminalization, as the Thai population is not ready for a thing like this. 

[Kenny202]

I dont know if it is the media or the politicians in Thailand but reading the daily news here is an insult to your intelligence. 

 

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

16 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, they are undecided as usual, going back and forth. Nothing new, though! However, I hail the proposal of recriminalization, as the Thai population is not ready for a thing like this. 

The issues is not back peddling as they did not include any restriction in the decriminalizing of cannabis.  Any body and his brother could be smoking it legally now recreationally, and out in public as I saw this past Saturday night on Khao San Rd.  Must have been 20+ vendors selling it openly and I watched as a father with his 2 children in tow buying a jar full.  Even observed two young girls buying a few joints, I estimated they were 16 years of age.  They then went to one of the bars sat down, ordered some sodas and sparked up.....life is good for many but will become not so good when true regulations are put in place.  Anutin royally messed up with how he authorized the rollout without thinking about anything other than his pocket book.

[Gecko123]

The Thai Examiner article is highly informative and I encourage everyone to read it.

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

The issues is not back peddling as they did not include any restriction in the decriminalizing of cannabis.  Any body and his brother could be smoking it legally now recreationally, and out in public as I saw this past Saturday night on Khao San Rd.  Must have been 20+ vendors selling it openly and I watched as a father with his 2 children in tow buying a jar full.  Even observed two young girls buying a few joints, I estimated they were 16 years of age.  They then went to one of the bars sat down, ordered some sodas and sparked up.....life is good for many but will become not so good when true regulations are put in place.  Anutin royally messed up with how he authorized the rollout without thinking about anything other than his pocket book.

"Even observed two young girls buying a few joints, I estimated they were 16 years of age.  They then went to one of the bars sat down, ordered some sodas and sparked up"

 

There's one of the main worries with such easy access now to teens buying joints from unlicensed stalls that are dotted everywhere. Lets hope this mess somehow gets sorted out. 

[Gecko123]

22 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

The issues is not back peddling as they did not include any restriction in the decriminalizing of cannabis.  Any body and his brother could be smoking it legally now recreationally, and out in public as I saw this past Saturday night on Khao San Rd.  Must have been 20+ vendors selling it openly and I watched as a father with his 2 children in tow buying a jar full.  Even observed two young girls buying a few joints, I estimated they were 16 years of age.  They then went to one of the bars sat down, ordered some sodas and sparked up.....life is good for many but will become not so good when true regulations are put in place.  Anutin royally messed up with how he authorized the rollout without thinking about anything other than his pocket book.

The Thai Examiner article says that Anutin's party has only seen a less than 1% increase in support (from 2% three months ago to 2.65% currently) since decriminalization was announced, and they are scrambling to back pedal. As I've said before, I think that irrespective of where you stand on decriminalization, the chaotic nature of the roll out has so thoroughly impeached Anutin's administrative skills that it should permanently disqualify him from assuming the duties of prime minister.

 

[Gottfrid]

17 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

The issues is not back peddling as they did not include any restriction in the decriminalizing of cannabis.  Any body and his brother could be smoking it legally now recreationally, and out in public as I saw this past Saturday night on Khao San Rd.  Must have been 20+ vendors selling it openly and I watched as a father with his 2 children in tow buying a jar full.  Even observed two young girls buying a few joints, I estimated they were 16 years of age.  They then went to one of the bars sat down, ordered some sodas and sparked up.....life is good for many but will become not so good when true regulations are put in place.  Anutin royally messed up with how he authorized the rollout without thinking about anything other than his pocket book.

Totally true, but there is still to much people with poor education, or the will to look though or whatever. So, I keep my opinion on that they have enough problems to deal with, so they definitely do not need another.

[Pumpuynarak]

46 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, they are undecided as usual, going back and forth. Nothing new, though! However, I hail the proposal of recriminalization, as the Thai population is not ready for a thing like this. 

But their ok with alcohol ehh, no problems with that ????

[Gottfrid]

4 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

But their ok with alcohol ehh, no problems with that ????

If you just bothered to read my post that was 9 minutes before yours.

13 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Totally true, but there is still to much people with poor education, or the will to look though or whatever. So, I keep my opinion on that they have enough problems to deal with, so they definitely do not need another.

And also, where did I post that it was ok with alcohol? If you can find that, then you can continue to laugh hysterically.

[Wuvu2]

When they decriminalized weed they forgot the highest priority of every government - taxation!

 

Whatever solution they finally come up with we can bet the government will have it's fingers deep in the pie with heavy licensing fees and plentiful layers of taxes ????  

[ozz1]

And don't forget RTP are missing out on their cash crop now what are they going to shake down farang for now except on the road rules they may have to do some real police work

[ChaiyaTH]

The police is so desperate as they do control all late-night alcohol related venues. They are begging for this as they then will not prevent us smoking it for health concerns, no, they will start to milk it out with brown enveloppes and bribes to us instead.

 

Not seeing this happen anytime soon, at best the police can extort businesses selling joints for a fee.

[ChaiyaTH]

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, they are undecided as usual, going back and forth. Nothing new, though! However, I hail the proposal of recriminalization, as the Thai population is not ready for a thing like this. 

There is no they, not sure why people even start bashing the 'government'. This is just a silly opinion of a police boss and his wish only. -- Learn to read.

[cyril sneer]

is this major update from 4am this morning or yesterday?

[jaywalker2]

4 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Last week I wrote: "I think people who are arguing "the cat's out of the bag" and that the open sale and usage of cannabis for recreational purposes is here to stay are kidding themselves. A major walk back is in the works." https://aseannow.com/topic/1267118-the-cannabis-debate-continues-but-can-thailand-control-it/?do=findComment&comment=175050682.

 

In hindsight it now appears that last week's Aseannow article with the headline "Anutin: No U-turn on marijuana" gave a misleading account of the government's actual position on recreational cannabis use.   https://aseannow.com/topic/1267138-anutin-no-u-turn-on-marijuana-minister-pressing-ahead-with-use-of-drug-in-two-trillion-baht-wellness-tourism/page/2/

 

Refraining from intoxicants which cloud the mind is one of the five Buddhist Precepts for leading a moral life. It is thus inconceivable that Thailand's Buddhist clergy isn't as equally opposed to the recreational use of cannabis as the leadership of the Islamic Committee. I suspect the only reason why Thailand's Buddhist senior leadership has not already voiced similar opposition is out of a reluctance to wade into political controversy. It only serves to foment religious bigotry to focus on the Islamic Committee's voiced opposition when everyone knows full well that recreational cannabis use is equally interdicted by Buddhist teachings.

 

Or maybe they don't want to remind people of all the monks caught with drugs lastel.

[Gecko123]

26 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

 

"highly informative". I see what you did there. ????

 

Honestly, and apologies if you are the author, but it's total KRAP, and reads like some 7th Grade knock-off script of Reefer Madness.

 

I was half expecting the author to be Tony Cartalucci.

 

Trashy click-baity faux "news".

 

 

Sorry if it's not what you want to hear, but it struck me as an excellent summary of where things stand at the moment. I'm not the author, but if I was, I'd be proud of the work.

 

Edit: The reason the article may seem disjointed (no pun intended) is because it's a compilation of recent developments on a fast developing story with many moving pieces.

 

[Doctor Tom]

Haha, 'undermining his plan', what plan?  No law was in place when the decriminalizing happened, in fact, the rules and laws on its use and control are still not in place.  That's not a plan, its a cluster <deleted> of their own making. 

[ChaiyaTH]

8 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

Haha, 'undermining his plan', what plan?  No law was in place when the decriminalizing happened, in fact, the rules and laws on its use and control are still not in place.  That's not a plan, its a cluster <deleted> of their own making. 

What are you even talking about, to decriminalise something, it comes with a law, which is what happened. You are talking about the lack of regulations or tweaked laws for commercial use, which are being worked on in the background already.

[Doctor Tom]

2 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

What are you even talking about, to decriminalise something, it comes with a law, which is what happened. You are talking about the lack of regulations or tweaked laws for commercial use, which are being worked on in the background already.

sorry Mr Pedant that you couldn't figure that out from my post. Calm down is my advice, or smoke something legal. . 

[ChaiyaTH]

1 minute ago, Doctor Tom said:

sorry Mr Pedant that you couldn't figure that out from my post. Calm down is my advice, or smoke something legal. . 

If it was so obvious, then just write it as it is too. You mocking Thais but you are as unclear as they are too.

[ThailandRyan]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

On Wednesday, Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, the architect of the drive to decriminalise the drug, told reporters unequivocally that recreational use of cannabis was still illegal as his ministry attempted to get police to enforce a 1999 law while the minister himself promised that legislation before parliament would again make cannabis as a recreational drug strictly illegal and open the way to effective police enforcement.

 

37 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

There is no they, not sure why people even start bashing the 'government'. This is just a silly opinion of a police boss and his wish only. -- Learn to read.

Guess you missed this when you read the article yourself......read the last sentence slowly