Thai Health Minister Proposes Marijuana Bill Focusing Only on Medical Use

[impulse]

8 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

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. 

 

As easy as it is to sell stuff online, I wouldn't be surprised if the growers are cutting out the shops.  It's not like coffee shops where the product is imminently perishable.

 

Of course, there will always be walk-in business in the tourist areas...  Unless they start requiring a script.

 

[hotchilli]

1 hour 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!

In which case Anutin and the now health minister might fall-out.

PTP party promised to overhaul the law, Anutin like it the way it is now, which is what he planned from the start.

[Metapod]

3 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 .

.

 

People openly smoke cigs and drink alcohol in bars and restaurants where there are children inside. What is the difference?

[stoner]

BP has an updated story on this. health minister doesn't seem so confident anymore and his tune has changed a little. 

 

 

[SeaBee]

35 minutes ago, stoner said:

BP has an updated story on this. health minister doesn't seem so confident anymore and his tune has changed a little. 

 

 

Proper backpedaling there, good to see :)

Thx for the heads up!

[StandardIssue]

Good, get pot smoke out of the air and restrict it's use. Never did a thing for me. Only for medical use makes way more sense. Recreational users can go back to the USA for their drug habit.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/10/asia/thailand-cannabis-reverse-proposed-laws-intl-hnk/index.html

Edited January 10 by StandardIssue

[Hokeus]

7 hours 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.

Presumably the exact polar opposite. You will walk into a weed shop, pay 300 Baht for a 2 minute zoom call with a local doctor, and 5 minutes later the weed shop will hand you a pre-signed medical certificate that says you are not an alcoholic, that you don't have elephantiasis, and that your well fit to do bong hits of the highest order and of a magnitude that will even make Cheech very proud. 👍🏼🥳

Edited January 10 by Hokeus

[Hokeus]

From what I read, Cannabis shops on Khao San Road alone are generating 20-30 million baht in revenue a month. 
 

Nationwide revenue, including exports, could be touching on half a billion Baht a month. Imagine the health minister being able to flush that down the toilet? 🤑🚽 🥺

[ABCDBKK]

According to a Bloomberg article that was published in mid 2022 when cannabis was decriminalized in Thailand: The combined market for medical marijuana and hemp in Thailand will expand by about 15% annually through 2025, when it’s likely to reach 43 billion baht (US$1.2 billion), creating opportunities for growers and small businesses, according to the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce. And presumably the revenue estimates have already increased. 

 

[Hokeus]

19 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

According to a Bloomberg article that was published in mid 2022 when cannabis was decriminalized in Thailand: The combined market for medical marijuana and hemp in Thailand will expand by about 15% annually through 2025, when it’s likely to reach 43 billion baht (US$1.2 billion), creating opportunities for growers and small businesses, according to the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce. And presumably the revenue estimates have already increased. 

 

If that's only medical marijuana revenue then triple that to include all the recreational use. If Thailand's annual GDP is around US$544 billion then cannabis revenue is probably already nearing 0.5% of GDP. 

[Elkski]

10 year anniversary in Colorado and the sky didn't fall.   Jad aome great edibles over xmas.   The sleeping gummy worked good for 5 hours , zero after effects.  2 chocolates 10 mg each and i was happy dor 5 hours but no way could  I drive.     I think the chocolate were 2.70$ each.  

[sungod]

4 hours ago, impulse said:

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

 

You can walk into a 7-11 and grab as much beer out of the fridge as you want and get smashed.

 

A bit of a silly comment really.

[kiwikeith]

19 hours ago, spermwhale said:

Good luck putting the genie back in the bottle after poorly drafting legislation that inadvertently made it a giant free for all. 

Someone is panicking 

[lexxy]

When you cannot tax anymore, encourage women to work.

when you cannot tax anymore, put a tax on pre mixed Bev, wines, beers

When you cannot tax anymore, decrim weed.

When you cannot tax anymore, tax foreigners

 

No one has mentioned of the already allocated funds which have been generated from this? The government was very quick to drop the import tax on wine this year + other incentives. I wonder how the govt will account for the money if they restrict a large taxable item such as weed. BTW does anyone know the % of total rev?

[jts-khorat]

14 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

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

 

In summer, as I was in Phuket, the shops for the big suppliers all already had seen the winds shift and had 'Medical Cannabis' signs in the window and a doctor at hand who could fill out the needed prescriptions. This, of course, will kill their smaller competition.

 

I think this will be a lot less difficult than you imagine, as doctors with street clinics do not make their money with reimbursement from insurances as in the west, but with the direct payable fees for patient visits. A health certificate or prescription is nothing more than a service for a fee.

 

The government might crack down on this over time, of course (as they did on doctors affiliated with shady online pharmacies in the early 2000s, then literally a money printing machine), but I think this "loop hole" is too obvious to not be intentional, as powerful interests are already making very, very good money through this.

Edited January 10 by jts-khorat

[bannork]

Sawatdee Khun Mor.

I suffer from stress due to various factors: my free spending wife, traffic jams, pollution, the dog down the road that chases me on my daily bike ride, dogs that bark all night,  so.....   I'd really appreciate a  health certificate for some weed please as a couple of hours under the influence in my hammock listening to great music whilst watching the butterflies flitter amongst the flowers and bushes is just sooooo far out.....

Thanks, doc .  

 

 

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, ABCDBKK said:

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. 

Having to go through such a palaver might make me give it up. I was led to believe cannabis smokers mix tobacco in, and as far as I am believing, smoking that is a cancer risk. I am perplexed by anyone smoking anything really..... a stupid thing to do. 

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, jvs said:

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

Yes, really. Completely off topic and a deflection!

[impulse]

10 hours ago, sungod said:

 

You can walk into a 7-11 and grab as much beer out of the fridge as you want and get smashed.

 

A bit of a silly comment really.

 

But if you fall over dead from some tainted beer, you can trace the bottle back to the company that made it.  Probably even the exact minute it was bottled, and the batch it came from.  I've got a pack of chewing gum in front of me, and I can tell you what company made it, and the exact time it was made.  And that's chewing gum, not a pharmaceutical.

 

[sungod]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

But if you fall over dead from some tainted beer, you can trace the bottle back to the company that made it.  Probably even the exact minute it was bottled, and the batch it came from.  I've got a pack of chewing gum in front of me, and I can tell you what company made it, and the exact time it was made.  And that's chewing gum, not a pharmaceutical.

 

 

So what you are saying is rather than ban cannabis and force it underground, we should in fact clear up the grey area and legalise it completely. This would aid regulation and also allow the government to collect taxes on what is a booming industry.

 

Couldn't agree more!

[impulse]

6 minutes ago, sungod said:

 

So what you are saying is rather than ban cannabis and force it underground, we should in fact clear up the grey area and legalise it completely. This would aid regulation and also allow the government to collect taxes on what is a booming industry.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

My stand on weed, since the '70s has always been  "Legalize it, control the quality, keep it away from the kids, and tax the beejeezus out of it."

 

[Irie Seeds]

So grow your own happiness 

[jvs]

21 hours ago, impulse said:

 

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?

 

in a way you are right but not many things over here are quality checked or even amount checked.

Like a lot of street food but of course that is not the same thing.

I think most illegal drugs that are sold have been cut or laced with whatever.

I bought THC oil about two years ago.

It was dark as tar and really strong Perfect for what i needed.

The second bottle was the same price and supposed to be the same product.

It was not, just some watery murky substance.

When you make things legal you can also demand/check the quality.

Like you said,no labeling required and no trace ability.

Things like this are very normal in Thailand and nothing you can do about it.

Now we grow our own plants and make our own edibles.