Thai Health Minister Proposes Marijuana Bill Focusing Only on Medical Use

[biggles45]

Any regulation/legislation here is ignored. No enforcement (remember the 'no passengers in the tray of pickups rule) so nothing will change 

[ABCDBKK]

Hope they ban recreational use of alcohol and cigarettes. The wretched smell of both of them are nauseating.
 

Not to mention the large drop we would see in domestic murders and road deaths from drink driving by banning alcohol worldwide. 

[ABCDBKK]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I tend to think it is clutching at straws, even a pathetic nonsense to attempt to justify smoking cannabis......

Might be more of a use as palliative for those who got the cancer already. 

There is no scientific evidence that smoking cannabis causes lung cancer. But inhaling any kind of smoke on a long term basis can result in other types of pulmonary diseases. 
 

The best solution to all of this is dry herb vaping. Heats up the cannabis in a small hand-held oven without burning it and converts the cannabinoids and terpenes to a completely non-harmful gas that is inhaled. Hardly any smell too that might bother non-smokers and no release of any harmful tar or ash into the lungs or atmosphere as caused by traditional smoking/combustion. 

[ABCDBKK]

4 hours ago, Irish star said:

And we have all the alcoholics cheering this move 

Not to mention the alcohol and tobacco industries that are suffering from a large decrease in sales after people realized cannabis is much less costly and not harmful.
 

If the powerful companies on the losing end weren't pushing/sponsoring all this new proposed legislation on cannabis prohibition then it wouldn't even be a thing. 

[DjSilver]

I can say that smoking cigarettes is more harmful, than smoking cannabis. 

[sungod]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

It has for me!

 

Alcohol doesn't appeal to much of the younger generation either,  it's mainly ill informed old people who enjoy a tipple against weed.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, sungod said:

Alcohol doesn't appeal to much of the younger generation either,  it's mainly ill informed old people who enjoy a tipple against weed.

Cannabis has saved me a lot of money, used to spend 3,000bht/month on alcohol,now I spend 500bht on cannabis.

[Guderian]

On 1/9/2024 at 11:49 AM, webfact said:

the new draft stipulates that cannabis usage will necessitate a doctor’s prescription.

 

Right, well that should be about as difficult to get as a health certificate from a doctor to apply for a driving licence.

[Nickcage49]

This guy must have a fortune invested in cannabis.

[bamnutsak]

1 minute ago, Guderian said:

 

Right, well that should be about as difficult to get as a health certificate from a doctor to apply for a driving licence.

 

Meh.

 

A health certificate is very much different than a prescription for a controlled substance.

 

 

I don't think foreigners would be allowed access to medical cannabis, as it will be controlled by DTAM/MoPH.

 

Currently, there are very few diagnoses for which Cannabis (oil, and not bong hits) can be prescribed, just four.

 

To expand that program, the MoPH will have to approve, certify, and test Cannabis. And train hundreds of doctors.

 

Finally, I just can't see Doctors being comfortable prescribing a medicine that has to be smoked. So any prescriptions would be for Cannabis oil taken orally.

 

 

 

 

[jvs]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Separate issue really....

No not really,at the same time the tax on alcohol is lowered .

Last year in Thailand 140 000 people have died from smoking and alcohol related diseases.

No one died of an over dose of Cannabis.

Do not forget this! at the same time the law is being proposed that if caught with 5 yaba tablets or less you are no longer going to be arrested.

Some one is really being very stupid.

[Hokeus]

7 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

Right, well that should be about as difficult to get as a health certificate from a doctor to apply for a driving licence.

Right. Suddenly millions of people in Thailand will have medical certificates stating that they need to consume cannabis flowers daily for depression and sleep disorders and you will still have clouds of cannabis smoke wafting out in the streets and nothing will change from how it is now. 
 

For many of the conservatives who are against cannabis, a lot of it stems from xenophobic nationalistic concerns about public and national image. Thus, all the proposed new legislation may appease some of them, but will have none of the desired net effect they are hoping for as it won't result in any less public consumption.

[bamnutsak]

4 minutes ago, jvs said:

Do not forget this! at the same time the law is being proposed that if caught with 5 yaba tablets or less you are no longer going to be arrested.

 

Let's wait and see where they settle on this threshold. Remember this is a diversionary program - at military bases no less - for first-time offenders, mainly because they are running out of prison space.

 

 

But yeah, Yaba is the preferred drug for most Thais, and is MAJOR public health disaster.

 

According to most observers here, there are far too many cannabis shops, with no customers ever, so that leads one to believe that there isn't much of a cannabis use/misuse problem.

 

 

 

 

[Hokeus]

1 minute ago, bamnutsak said:

According to most observers here, there are far too many cannabis shops, with no customers ever, so that leads one to believe that there isn't much of a cannabis use/misuse problem.

Many of the shops are in very high rent areas. If they weren't making good profits then they wouldn't be there. So they must be making good money. Many do a lot of their repeat business online through chat groups it seems.
 

Meanwhile, the number of weed shops listed on weed.th is still growing at a rate of around 5% a month. Cannabis sales are now probably at least 1% of Thai GDP. And if many of those shops are forced to close because of new restrictive laws then who is going to be able to pay those high rents on the 6,500+ existing shop locations? Massage and coffee shop businesses? Cannabis shops have rescued many of the ailing retail locations in Thailand after the pandemic. 

[Dogmatix]

22 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

There is no betrayal.

It was decriminalised (not legalised) for medicinal purposes only

 

Not true. What Anutin did was to issue a ministerial regulation amending the appendix to the Narcotics Act that lists illegal drugs. Cannabis was simply omitted from the new list with the exception of extracts containing more than 0.2% THC.  No mention of why this was being done or how the decriminalised drug should be used. Go read the Royal Gazette announcement for yourself. Anutin claimed verbally it was being done for medical use but he is a politician. What he did and what he said were two different things.

[Dogmatix]

28 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

 

Meh.

 

A health certificate is very much different than a prescription for a controlled substance.

 

 

I don't think foreigners would be allowed access to medical cannabis, as it will be controlled by DTAM/MoPH.

 

Currently, there are very few diagnoses for which Cannabis (oil, and not bong hits) can be prescribed, just four.

 

To expand that program, the MoPH will have to approve, certify, and test Cannabis. And train hundreds of doctors.

 

Finally, I just can't see Doctors being comfortable prescribing a medicine that has to be smoked. So any prescriptions would be for Cannabis oil taken orally.

 

I think almost certain that foreign tourists will be denied access to whatever gets defined as medical cannabis and quite likely foreigners on longer term visas including permanent residents too.

[Guderian]

38 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

 

Meh.

 

A health certificate is very much different than a prescription for a controlled substance.

 

 

I don't think foreigners would be allowed access to medical cannabis, as it will be controlled by DTAM/MoPH.

 

Currently, there are very few diagnoses for which Cannabis (oil, and not bong hits) can be prescribed, just four.

 

To expand that program, the MoPH will have to approve, certify, and test Cannabis. And train hundreds of doctors.

 

Finally, I just can't see Doctors being comfortable prescribing a medicine that has to be smoked. So any prescriptions would be for Cannabis oil taken orally.

 

 

 

 

 

You evidently never heard of Viagra and Cialis, lol.

[Dogmatix]

This typical Thaksinesque authoritarianism from a Thaksin acolyte. The 2017 constitution required prior public consultation, taking into account views from affected parties, on legislation. That was axed from later military constitutions but the junta government opted to allow public consultation anyway.  Now Thaksin is back behind the driving wheel, his minister promises public consultation but reneges on his promise.  In fact the bill we are discussing is still kept secret. So we are discussing it second hand.

 

It seems that PT is worried about shops suing the government for damages.  So the solution is to not completely recriminalise or revoke the shops' licences but to make it impossible for them to do business by only allowing them to sell cannabis with less than 0.2% THC.  It sounds like medical THC will be the same as it is now - restricted to oil over 0.2% but not much higher than that with a nasty substance added to prevent drinking the whole bottle to try to get a buzz.  I was prescribed two bottles of this stuff which had a notice in red on the bottle warning that is became an illegal narcotic 30 days after the prescription date.  It was a dark green colour, rather than the normal colorless, tasted revolting and did nothing.  So I threw both bottles in the trash after 30 days, rather than keep an illegal but ineffective substance in the house. Cost me 600 per bottle and and another 800 for a prescription and consultation with an idiotic traditional medicine "doctor".

 

The shops will be left to go bust as they will only be able to sell thinks like CBD tea and cannabis hand lotion.

 

 

[bamnutsak]

1 minute ago, Dogmatix said:

In fact the bill we are discussing is still kept secret. So we are discussing it second hand.

 

There are some leaks I've seen in Thai, but yes, this sort of behavior is disturbing for a Minister.

 

My sense is that he is both embarrassed and unsure of the "footing" on this one so he's keeping things concealed for now.

[ABCDBKK]

51 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

 

I think almost certain that foreign tourists will be denied access to whatever gets defined as medical cannabis and quite likely foreigners on longer term visas including permanent residents too.

Tourists and resident expats make up at least 50% of the high priced retail cannabis market where the biggest profit margins are made.
 

It would be too much of a loss of easy revenue to cut them out of their current easy access. If the proposed legislation actually passes to require a medical certificate then there will also be a loophole allowing possession of under 3, 5 or 10 grams without a certificate. 
 

Everyone has become so focused on the banning of recreational use, halting of sales of flowers containing above 0.2% THC and the requirement of a medical certificate and, thus thinking this will be the end of things.
 

But they can put all those measures in place and still create a loophole allowing possession of small quantities and then nothing actually changes from the way it is now. 

[fluffs]

Every 2nd shop in Bangkok and Pattaya is a weed shop. It was never legalised and is a blight on the country. It's being openly smoked in bars and restaurants which have children inside. It's nothing to do with freedom It's all about the money,  most of which goes to police and government officials .

.

[Hokeus]

50 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

Tourists and resident expats make up at least 50% of the high priced retail cannabis market where the biggest profit margins are made.
 

It would be too much of a loss of easy revenue to cut them out of their current easy access. If the proposed legislation actually passes to require a medical certificate then there will also be a loophole allowing possession of under 3, 5 or 10 grams without a certificate. 
 

Everyone has become so focused on the banning of recreational use, halting of sales of flowers containing above 0.2% THC and the requirement of a medical certificate and, thus thinking this will be the end of things.
 

But they can put all those measures in place and still create a loophole allowing possession of small quantities and then nothing actually changes from the way it is now. 

Hub of loopholes. 

[sungod]

27 minutes ago, fluffs said:

Every 2nd shop in Bangkok and Pattaya is a weed shop. It was never legalised and is a blight on the country. It's being openly smoked in bars and restaurants which have children inside. It's nothing to do with freedom It's all about the money,  most of which goes to police and government officials .

.

 

Hysteria.....

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Hokeus said:

Many of the shops are in very high rent areas. If they weren't making good profits then they wouldn't be there. So they must be making good money. Many do a lot of their repeat business online through chat groups it seems.

 

Could also be they're losing their butts, but their lease still has some time on it.  Looking at the oversupply where I've been staying (BKK), I'd bet there's going to be a shake-out.

 

[jvs]

6 hours ago, impulse said:

The idea that anyone with a table and a stove can whip up a batch of a mind altering substance is a little scary...  Add in the over-supply that incents people to cut corners and even cheat to make a profit

The idea that some one with a fridge can just open the door of it and grab a mind altering

substance is a little scary.

Oh sorry,stupid reaction,like the one i responded to.

[jvs]

2 hours ago, fluffs said:

Every 2nd shop in Bangkok and Pattaya is a weed shop. It was never legalised and is a blight on the country. It's being openly smoked in bars and restaurants which have children inside. It's nothing to do with freedom It's all about the money,  most of which goes to police and government officials .

.

Really ?i think you are a little bit exaggerating aren"t you?

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, jvs said:

The idea that some one with a fridge can just open the door of it and grab a mind altering

substance is a little scary.

Oh sorry,stupid reaction,like the one i responded to.

 

The difference being that a guy opening his fridge isn't offering a mind altering substance for sale to the public.

 

Am I correct in deducing that you think it's okay to sell (for example) gummies that have no traceability to where they came from, and no labeling requirement for strength, other ingredients, etc?  You can't even do that with chewing gum, but it's okay to do that with a pharmaceutical?

 

[sambum]

10 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Anutin said it was for medicinal use only... until it was hijacked by the public and the law was not in place to stop them from opening up shops, selling it online and using it personally.

Cholnan is trying to get it back to some sensibility and control.

 

 

Anutin campaigned for years to get it legalised - whether for medical purposes or not - because he had invested a substantial amount of money into the project!

[ABCDBKK]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Could also be they're losing their butts, but their lease still has some time on it.  Looking at the oversupply where I've been staying (BKK), I'd bet there's going to be a shake-out.

 

Agreed, a shakeout seems likely at some point. Usually occurs after any gold rush. But if the business itself remains as strong as it is now, then the shakeout could be minimal. 
 

The bigger issue is if prices are forced to become more competitive in the future because of oversupply to where many of the shops with the higher overheads can't stay afloat when the margins go lower. 
 

One shop owner recently told me they are now finding it harder to find as much local supply from growers as compared to a few months ago. Not sure if it's an increased local demand issue or if the growers are earning more by exporting it instead. Somehow it sounds like the growers are winning at the moment though. 

[ABCDBKK]

54 minutes ago, sambum said:

 

Anutin campaigned for years to get it legalised - whether for medical purposes or not - because he had invested a substantial amount of money into the project!

Yes, he used to wear colorful shirts covered with marijuana leaf prints and handed out over a million free plants to locals to help them grow their own. Wasn't he concerned they might take the plants and grow it for recreational purposes back then?
 

It appears he only started talking about the "medical use only" issue after the plants and flowers were successfully removed from the illegal narcotics list and public opinion had shifted back towards a more conservative view.