Thai PM says use of cannabis must be regulated within six months

[Rimmer]

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[bamnutsak]

21 minutes ago, webfact said:

Sources close to the party told Thai Enquirer that its leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, is keen to play the role of a “nice coalition partner,” thereby eliminating the likelihood of any significant political opposition to the move.

 

 

Thinly attributed with a hint of speculation, and extrapolation.

 

Would prefer a direct quote from Anutin.

 

 

If re-criminalization is a done deal then get on with it NOW.

 

Why wait six months?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neeranam]

14 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Says the man who has a convicted heroin smuggler as Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 

Do you not believe in rehabilitation?

[Cabradelmar]

Given the number of ganja shops opened in the last 12 months, that's a lot of capital investment gonna get throw under the bus... then again, maybe everyone can get some sort of medical ganja card for a small fee ???? Whatever this government decides to do, it will likely be handled as ham-handed as the initial decriminalization/legalization of recreational weed.

[Cereal]

This ridiculous new policy could have been completely unnecessary if Thailand had thought about how to go about legalising pot in even the slightest way. But they didn't, because that would have been smart!

Look at Canada as a shining example of how to go about it the correct way. 

Also, what does re-submit really mean? Are we talking envelope thickness???

[bkk_bwana]

10 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Thai people don't seem to crave it much. Chiang Mai is chock full of outlets, with no apparent customers. I only smelled it while walking thru the foreign guesthouse ghetto and a certain dance 

club zone. 

I don't think 'crave' is the right word, but plenty of Thai people smoke weed, most of them are not so blatant about smoking it in public, that's all.

[Bangkok Barry]

So all these shops that have sprung up to sell will have to close. But, from my observation, they have as many customers as a Louis Vuitton shop in a hi-so mall - approximately zero.

[pacovl46]

3 hours ago, khunpeer said:

did you expect anything else? it was only a matter of time...

now the question is: what can they do about it?

Actually I did expect something else. In regards to what they can do about it, I hope he won't get through with it and I hope that the public backlash against Thaksin will be big enough so that that won't happen either. 

[barmatt]

Keep it legal. Its great for boom boom   

[Sigmund]

What to belive or take seriously  from a country with absurdities like the 90 day reporting, TM30, bans electronic cigarettes, allows dual pricing against foreigners, asks for residence certificates for any absurd administrative requirement....let's hope however that the new administration will change these artefacts of the populism from the past ? ????

[VBF]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Small businesses in limbo as BJT says it will not challenge PT marijuana policy
by Arun Saronchai

 

Just over a year after Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize marijuana, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has announced a dramatic policy shift.

 

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the prime minister revealed that the government will now limit the use of marijuana to medical purposes only. This sudden turn has garnered the support of all parties in the Pheu Thai-led coalition government, leaving small dispensaries and entrepreneurs in a state of uncertainty.

 

Interestingly, the Bhumjai Thai party, which has often been on opposite sides of the political spectrum from Pheu Thai, will not challenge the new policy direction. Sources close to the party told Thai Enquirer that its leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, is keen to play the role of a “nice coalition partner,” thereby eliminating the likelihood of any significant political opposition to the move.

 

Since its decriminalization in June 2022, thousands of cannabis dispensaries have opened across Thailand. 

 

Full story: THA ENQUIRER 2023-09-22

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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I couldn't believe just how many cannabis shops there were in Pattaya last time I was there (April 23).

It's a kick in the nuts for all the people who invested in the new freedom!

 

I thought that for once Thailand was leading and being progressive, but seemingly not!

Why they can't treat it like alcohol and simply legalise, regulate and tax it is beyond me!

 

[ourmanflint]

some good news at last!

[HappyExpat57]

OK, so it will cost an additional 150 baht to get "Dr. Somchai" to write me a script. Jeezuz wept!

 

 

 

[VBF]

26 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

some good news at last!

Quite disagree. Let the people who enjoy it have their pastime same as those who enjoy a drink or a cigarette do.

Nobody's forcing you to indulge if you don't want to.

I'm vehemently anti cigarette smoke but I simply avoid smokers and let them get on with it  I do like  a drink or several though.

Same should be possible for cannabis smokers and / or eaters - live and let live.

[sherwood]

Just leave the pot alone, it really doesn't hurt anyone but governments love to reduce your personal choice.

If anything, curbing public use would have positive effect. Same as grog consumption.

Discretion in my mind is fine.

Time for a cone?

 

[kimamey]

18 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

So only for medical use but going to control.retail outlets lol. So what will the retail be selling ???????? Insult to a persons intelligence reading the news in Thailand

It's a bit vague isn't it. 

Regardless of whether cannabis for recreational use is good or bad,  it's going to be harder to control it now after it was legal.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

18 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

So only for medical use but going to control.retail outlets lol. So what will the retail be selling ???????? Insult to a persons intelligence reading the news in Thailand

The retail outlets should be more like a herbalist retailer's not fashion boutiques or i-shops. People over 21 should be allowed some small quantities for relaxation and pain relief. Weed retailers are more numerous than convience stores in some areas.

 

 

[JimTripper]

Bubble. If you went into debt opening cannabis businesses you may regret it.

[ChipButty]

I thought they wanted to boost tourism? I dont use it and never have but I don't see a problem if it's done in controlled areas like all these shops that have opened, 

You see people drinking and sitting outside the minimarts having a beer I don't see the difference 

Just down the road from me in one of the soi's there is a cannabis farm if thats what you call them, what will happen to that? on a fair sized plot of land I remember it when the land was empty, 

[JBChiangRai]

14 minutes ago, kimamey said:

It's a bit vague isn't it. 

Regardless of whether cannabis for recreational use is good or bad,  it's going to be harder to control it now after it was legal.

Actually, recreational use of any part of the plant with THC >0.2% has never been legal.

 

What does the law say? (post 9 June 2022)

 

The production and consumption of cannabis is permitted for medical and health purposes. It’s also permitted for private recreational use if the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content is below 0.2% by weight. Using cannabis for medical purposes was approved in 2018, but under the new laws it is still illegal to sell or supply any extracts containing more than 0.2% of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). THC is the main compound in marijuana which gives the ‘high’. https://fanclubthailand.co.uk/thailands-new-cannabis-laws/

 

Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he expected legal cannabis production to boost the economy but cautioned that recreational use of the drug remains illegal.

“It’s a no,” said Anutin, who is also a deputy prime minister. “We still have regulations under the law that control the consumption, smoking or use of cannabis products in non-productive ways.”Thailand just decriminalized cannabis. But you still can't smoke joints, minister says | CNN

 

What is permitted...

1. for utilization of fibers in accordance with tradition and culture, and only for use within the family, provided that each family is allowed to have not more than one rai [2 ½ rai = 1 acre] of the cultivated land;
2. for commercial or industrial purposes;
3. for medical purposes:
4. for the purposes of study, test, research, or propagation;
5. for the purposes of producing certified seeds

 

[phetphet]

They could probably tax those shops out of existence.

[herfiehandbag]

15 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Thai people don't seem to crave it much. Chiang Mai is chock full of outlets, with no apparent customers. I only smelled it while walking thru the foreign guesthouse ghetto and a certain dance 

club zone. 

Most, almost all, the "outlets" which opened in Chiang Rai have closed. Frankly it seems that the market is " regulating itself".

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Easy,  sell it through pharmacies who would require a  prescription from a medical  practitioner. Set standards for labs producing the  extract and enforce. 

Thailand doesn't seem to have a medical prescriptions system... except insofar as doctors order/prescribe drugs for patients that only their own hospitals will dispense.

 

When was the last time anyone here got a written prescription for a controlled, non- OTC drug, took the paper to a retail pharmacy outside the doctor's own hospital, and got it filled by some retail pharmacy somewhere?

 

[Peabody]

15 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thailand doesn't seem to have a medical prescriptions system... except insofar as doctors order/prescribe drugs for patients that only their own hospitals will dispense.

 

When was the last time anyone here got a written prescription for a controlled, non- OTC drug, took the paper to a retail pharmacy outside the doctor's own hospital, and got it filled by some retail pharmacy somewhere?

 

Once a month, I take my prescriptions from the hospital to Fascino and get it filled for ~ 1/2 price

 

[DavidLangdown]

18 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

This guy needs to go! First the pot and now he wants to involve Thaksin in politics when he gets out! Pffft! Army to the front! 

what an idiot 

[Pumpuynarak]

7 hours ago, DavidLangdown said:

what an idiot 

Yes indeed, whats the difference between pot and alcohol/tobacco ? Many Thais are earning a living from pot and now the idiot is going to put a stop to these jobs.

Beggars belief imo.

[bamnutsak]

I'm often wrong predicting future events here.

 

I predicted that Cannabis Flower over 0.2% THC would NOT be legalized back in June 2022. Many here predicted that it would be. I was completely WRONG.

 

I had been predicted that there might be 5 % ~ 15 % that Cannabis flower with more than 0.2 % THC  would be re-criminalized by the new government.

 

I think I was wrong again.

 

 

BJT(Wednesday) announced that they are pushing forward with the Cannabis and Hemp Act in Parliament.

 

The focus seems to have shifted to Hemp and CBD extraction, leaving THC to probably be relegated to the Narcotics list, again.

 

 

[ChipButty]

13 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thailand doesn't seem to have a medical prescriptions system... except insofar as doctors order/prescribe drugs for patients that only their own hospitals will dispense.

 

When was the last time anyone here got a written prescription for a controlled, non- OTC drug, took the paper to a retail pharmacy outside the doctor's own hospital, and got it filled by some retail pharmacy somewhere?

 

we have a couple of friends who are pharmacist, they are not allowed to even stock certain drugs, even if you got the prescription the only place you can buy is the hospitals, 

I think they get visits from time to time checking on their stock,  

[Pumpuynarak]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

we have a couple of friends who are pharmacist, they are not allowed to even stock certain drugs, even if you got the prescription the only place you can buy is the hospitals, 

I think they get visits from time to time checking on their stock,  

and in respect of private hospitals pay their ridiculous rip off prices, i'm done with being ripped off by private hospitals they can FO, i now only use government hospitals.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

i now only use government hospitals.

And I'd guess, overall, they're long on domestically sourced or generic drugs that can be acquired and used relatively cheaply, and probably short/shorter on imported drugs, including those for which there are no generics, that are going to be more expensive and harder to obtain here.