Thai health minister backs cannabis ban, citing surge in teen usage

[JimboB4]

My local head shop owner where we live says this is all talk just to appease the opposition and nothing will change in the future either, if anything it will continue to expand. . Sounds like I was right about the right wing News Media theory he said particular news outlets just talk. They ping on the slightest hint or comments from anyone in the government about reversing course. Also says way too much money involved and the tourists industry would literally riot if they classified it as a narcotic again. 

[JBChiangRai]

3 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

Thai teens if my village are the laziest people I have ever seen...anywhere...and I have been to 65 countries.

They do like their beds, that's for sure.

[JimboB4]

The tourist industry is dead set on staying the course on legalized cannabis. 

[RafPinto]

I never saw a single of those shops with any client.
Close to my condo, a new shop opened a few months ago. Never a client. Suddenly they are also selling beer, still no client and now they provide visa service for farang and still nobody.

A 10 min walk away, there are 5 shops on a 200 m stretch.

In my opinion, most of those shops opened to clean some dirty money. 

Perfect place for money laundering.

[sambum]

18 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

They are "already" choosing to close, it's market dynamics, supply & demand, there is oversupply and not enough demand.  Normally, this would result in price compression, Thailand is the only country I know where if something doesn't sell, they don't drop the price, often they raise it.

 

The shops and growers knew they were taking a risk and exploiting a loophole, Anutin himself was pretty clear when he removed it from the narcotic list that recreational use remained illegal.  You have to be pretty stupid to invest in a loophole when the minister who creates it issues the warning at the same time.

 

Why would anyone compensate a stupid person?

"Anutin himself was pretty clear when he removed it from the narcotic list that recreational use remained illegal."

 

I am afraid that anything Anutin says should be taken with a pinch of salt - it's usually subject to a U turn a few days later, so the shop owners were probably expecting him to run true to form! ???? 

However, I do agree with your point about if something isn't selling they put the price up - I call it Thai "Auntie Logic"!

[RafPinto]

1 hour ago, JimboB4 said:

Bull<deleted> the tourist industry is not on board with this at all. This would tank the tourist industry and the Thai economy. Stop spreading disinformation about this issue it’s here to stay. And I told you so. 

Oh dear.

 

I have never heart TAT promoting Thailand as the cannabis paradise.

[mikebike]

2 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

I never saw a single of those shops with any client.

I keep hearing this subjective observation being pushed as the "gotcha" proving that there are no customers. 

 

The shops are fronts, basically needed for the vendors license. In my area, most business isn't done in the store. The vendor delivers, or we meet up at a local. Much of my vendors stock is sent to the big tourist ghettos. He's doing just fine sales-wise... 

[nausea]

Don't care one way or the other - cigarettes, and whiskey, and wild, wild women, remain my distractions of choice.

[chiman]

As soon as they change the law, it will all go under ground.  Weed will be easier to get than beer, and the illegal business will flourish - with no tax money for the gov 

[Marco51]

8 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Uh has anybody thought of ID checks on age? Like for alcohol and cigarettes? But this would require an enforcement of the rules by the police so an outright ban is WAY WAY easier.

 

Meanwhile I am sure yaba dealers are checking the ages of the patrons they sell to - at prices A LOT LOWER than ganja is selling for.

T I T......do first, think later, boast big time, blame everybody else.........no problem, can drive......ooops , that was the accelerator and the reverse gear? Who would have thought . That was the manual I threw out yesterday?

What could have been one of the most progressive ideas despite the initiator now falls on your feet  for starting to build the house starting with the roof . 180 degrees turn. 5555555555...................or could there be some brewery and destillery whispers in the background ? On y soit qui mal y pense or some such.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

I am sorry but I must disagree. Some 10 years or so ago I drove a taxi for a while in a medium sized city in the South West of England.

 

I stand corrected.  I've never seen it happen but I have no reason to doubt your anecdotes about weed driven violence.

 

I wonder if it was pure weed, or fortified with something else?

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

27 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Anutin himself was pretty clear when he removed it from the narcotic list that recreational use remained illegal. 

There is no law that states it is illegal to consume cannabis for recreational purposes.

 

It was legalized when cannabis flower was removed from the narcotics list.

 

If it is not on the narcotics list, it is not illegal.

 

Extracts with above 0.2% THC are still on the narcotics list, therefore illegal.

 

It is currently legal to grow, possess, buy and sell (with an appropriate license).

[ChipButty]

6 minutes ago, nausea said:

Don't care one way or the other - cigarettes, and whiskey, and wild, wild women, remain my distractions of choice.

I'll stick to clean women with a dirty mind 

[Mr Meeseeks]

4 minutes ago, chiman said:

As soon as they change the law, it will all go under ground.  Weed will be easier to get than beer, and the illegal business will flourish - with no tax money for the gov 

As usual, they cannot manage a p*ss up in a brewery. 

 

It's been a total ill-conceived mess from start to finish. 

 

Pushed through quickly because the former Health Minister's daughter has a large cannabis farm in Buriram (allegedly).

[JBChiangRai]

2 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

There is no law that states it is illegal to consume cannabis for recreational purposes.

 

It was legalized when cannabis flower was removed from the narcotics list.

 

If it is not on the narcotics list, it is not illegal.

 

Extracts with above 0.2% THC are still on the narcotics list, therefore illegal.

 

It is currently legal to grow, possess, buy and sell (with an appropriate license).

And therein lies the problem.

 

Removed from the narcotic list but the minister who did it says it's illegal to use it recreationally at the same time.  But he never specified how it was illegal, probably it isn't but as a successful business guy, that would have ruled me out of investing.

 

 

[Smokey and the Bandit]

5 hours ago, Derek B said:

Whilst on the subject of public health issues any chance of ridding the country of dangerous dog breeds and clamping down on concealed handgun ownership.

There is zero chance of 'ridding' the country as you put it?

[impulse]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

4 hours ago, impulse said:

And I hate the idea of someone going to jail for lighting up a doob, while the guy next to him puking up his Mai Tai gets a free pass.

Be ethical and compare like for like..... why does one have to be puking at all?

Only one would be a scofflaw!

Just conjuring up fond memories of my college days when Mai Tai parties were the rage.  Inevitably, people would drink too much (myself included) and the "red tide" would roll in.  The kampus keystones would turn a blind eye to all the students puking in the front yard, but if they caught even a sniff of skunkweed, they'd search you and your car.   If they found even one seed, they'd arrest you.

 

I never thought that was fair, much less good policy.  Though my drug of choice was alcohol.

 

[ChaiyaTH]

As far I know many teens used to experiment with yaba, they might now prefer weed, but that was already an upcoming trend before it became legal too. Together with those sloppy jeans or 90s style. Same time they have less money nowadays, drinking costs more too.

 

It's completely stupid and backwards anyway, even they now close all shops, anutin and his team will be the only growers and sellers, most get their medicinal crooked license anyway. 

Aside from that, weed will be even more available, for lower prices, on the dark market. Plus people can just grow themselves, Thailand is flooded with grow materials and seeds, I have a 2000 watt setup with a 2.4M by 1.2M tent myself too, with some luck, lasts me easily 10 years.

 

Always thought it was smart to buy that knowing Thailand changes direction all the time, I also have a fridge seed bank, might make me some money in the near future. Else I smoke it.

[JimboB4]

It’s actually pretty evil to restrict something so harmless which has been the only problem with it in the first place for decades. Part of it is that it will allow people to live longer the opposition is also about population control. 

[ChaiyaTH]

3 minutes ago, JimboB4 said:

It’s actually pretty evil to restrict something so harmless which has been the only problem with it in the first place for decades. Part of it is that it will allow people to live longer the opposition is also about population control. 

There is nothing to control on that anymore, they made young Thais their life so desperate, most don't even want kids. Same in the west. Birth rate is too low almost everywhere.

 

Even I do not bad at all, I limited myself to 1, due to all the costs. Wanted 2.

[JBChiangRai]

6 minutes ago, JimboB4 said:

It’s actually pretty evil to restrict something so harmless which has been the only problem with it in the first place for decades. Part of it is that it will allow people to live longer the opposition is also about population control. 

You're gaslighting.  It's not harmless.  It may be harmless to you but it's not harmless to anyone with a predisposition to mental illness.

[ChaiyaTH]

1 hour ago, Adumbration said:

Thai teens if my village are the laziest people I have ever seen...anywhere...and I have been to 65 countries.

Not sure it is limited it to the teens alone, almost all of them are, even they work, they work so slow/inefficient that they either need 2-3 times the normal time for it, or they work with 2-3 times the amount of people for it, and sometimes even both.

 

This also reveals that Thais could actually already earn 30-40K a month, if they were proper. This is confirmed by the minority who is, and earns that, or more.

[bamnutsak]

The Government needs a win, and this is an easy one for them, so unfortunately this recriminalization seems inevitable.

 

The recriminalization seems to be gaining steam every day.

 

I predicted there was a good chance (85 - 95%) that recreational use would continue, I was definitely wrong.

 

 

 

[advancebooking]

Thanks for this balls up mr aunitin. 

 

regards from a dirty little farang

[spidermike007]

I did not like Anutin much, but one thing I will give him credit for, is the legalization of cannabis. It was an adult thing to do, and both Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew and Sretta are ignorant on the subject, alarmist, and on the wrong side of history.

[transam]

Just now, spidermike007 said:

I did not like Anutin much, but one thing I will give him credit for, is the legalization of cannabis. It was an adult thing to do, and both Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew and Sretta are ignorant on the subject, alarmist, and on the wrong side of history.

An adult thing to do, when it has now been found kids are causing problems via its use.........????

But, you keep puffing chap...............

[spidermike007]

1 minute ago, transam said:

An adult thing to do, when it has now been found kids are causing problems via its use.........????

But, you keep puffing chap...............

Of course the kids are causing problems. That is what kids do. Because a few kids smoke too much is not a scientific nor a rational reason to reverse the progress that has been made.

[transam]

Just now, spidermike007 said:

Of course the kids are causing problems. That is what kids do. Because a few kids smoke too much is not a scientific nor a rational reason to reverse the progress that has been made.

????..............Miss the obvious, won't you..................????

[advancebooking]

10 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I did not like Anutin much, but one thing I will give him credit for, is the legalization of cannabis. It was an adult thing to do, and both Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew and Sretta are ignorant on the subject, alarmist, and on the wrong side of history.

Ridiculous and uneducated comment. Do you think 6000 new weed shops around thailand on most street corners is a good thing for the country. Get real. 

 

You are obviously a pot head but fail to understand the long term negative effects on society that will result in the long term.  

[transam]

2 minutes ago, advancebooking said:

Ridiculous and uneducated comment. Do you think 6000 new weed shops around thailand on most street corners is a good thing for the country. Get real. 

 

You are obviously a pot head but fail to understand the long term negative effects on society that will result in the long term.  

Spot on, plus these puffers will defend their hobby no matter what, even accepting the detrimental effects on kids....????