Pot industry pushes back against draft law that would put an end to Thailand’s cannabis revolution

[Dogmatix]

Most of the regulations and penalties in the draft are for businesses and growers in the cannabis trade.  For users I see only the 60,000 baht fine for recreational use and the 1 year in jail and/or 20,000 baht fine for driving while intoxicated with cannabis. 

 

This driving aspect seems to overlap with the existing law on driving while intoxicated with alcohol or other substances, where I think the maximum penalties are higher.  There is wording about the obligation to take a cannabis test, if demanded, and you are deemed intoxicated with cannabis, if you refuse to be tested.  But it doesn't say what the limit is or what type of testing they will do.  I don't think anyone has out with a particularly suitable test for roadside testing. Most existing tests will just confirm that you consumed cannabis within the last few days but it is hard to determine whether someone is intoxicated to the point that driving would be impaired.  They could end up busting anyone who has any traces of cannabis in their system, even if they are stone cold sober.  This would be unfair as they allow a small amount of alcohol in the body.

[Patanawet]

14 hours ago, smedly said:

 many studies have shown this

And many have shown the opposite.

[JackGats]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Has there been a notable increase in tourism since weed was removed from the narcotics list ?

I do sympathise with the shop owners and farmers who might go out of business but why start up a business when it wasn’t in black and white what the laws were going to be ?

Is it black and white what the laws are in the sex trade? Is it black and white what the laws are regarding the use of Bitcoin? Is it black and white what the laws are regarding house or land ownership by foreigners in Thailand?

 

Where would you be if businesses always waited for "black and white" before taking risks?

[Mr Meeseeks]

8 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

A year in prison for smoking a join for fun instead of for medicinal purposes but no prosecution for speed pills, no matter whether they were for recreational purposes or not.

 

As per usual, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

 

The situation now is all down to poor strategy and management, which is endemic throughout Thailand.

 

Had the cannabis laws been well-thought-out and implemented correctly, there would be no ambiguity about what it or what is not allowed and risk to businesses and investments in the sector would have been minimised.

 

As it stands, it is another complete mess you've got us into Somchai. 🤡

[Denim]

1 hour ago, candide said:

Agree.

Alternatively: smoke a second joint later instead of drinking! 😁

 

Trouble with that is that it soon becomes a law of diminishing returns and you waste your stash chasing the initial buzz.

[Shocked farang]

10 hours ago, JackGats said:

The charade of medical use. Bloody medical establishment want to rule the world and have their cut in everything. Cannabis has always been about getting high. Same in the US. If all you want to legalise is CBD then you're not legalising anything. And if you want to criminalise "non-medical use" then you're (re)criminalising cannabis, period.

 

 

You are only looking at your side of the equation. I have watched many documentaries about people with all kinds of conditions who were helped by cannabis. You particular case really struck me a few years ago about a young girl whose family had moved to Colorado just to have access to medical cannabis, she had extremely painful migraines, she became quite ok after being treated with cannabis ( I mean full cannabis to be smoked, not only CBD). 

[JackGats]

7 hours ago, RobU said:

Unfortunately excessive use of cannabis, like excessive use of alcohol does cause aggression. Excessive use of antidepressants can also cause aggression. The side effect of cannabis use is paranoia, combine that with excessive use of alcohol and you have a group of people who will erupt into violence for no apparent reason. They will get drunk and have plenty of tokes at the pub and you won't know what hit you, or why.

This shows you don't know what you're talking about. Cannabis + ethanol is a lousy combo, every user knows that. At least every cannabis user does. Maybe some boozers don't as a good deal of their neurons will have been killed by ethanol (a skin desinfectant and industrial solvent).

[Dogmatix]

The OP is about the draft bill which is just been released.  Why not stick to discussion of that, rather than discussing pros and cons for cannabis which can be done on countless other threads and fora?

[jvs]

14 minutes ago, JackGats said:

This shows you don't know what you're talking about. Cannabis + ethanol is a lousy combo, every user knows that. At least every cannabis user does. Maybe some boozers don't as a good deal of their neurons will have been killed by ethanol (a skin desinfectant and industrial solvent).

Yes you are right,talking about excess use of anything will turn up something negative.

Combos usually do not work well.

That goes for many things.

Even mixing two kinds of alcohol creates problems for some.

Some people seem to forget about the fine line between use and abuse.

 

[RobU]

45 minutes ago, JackGats said:

This shows you don't know what you're talking about. Cannabis + ethanol is a lousy combo, every user knows that. At least every cannabis user does. Maybe some boozers don't as a good deal of their neurons will have been killed by ethanol (a skin desinfectant and industrial solvent).

You have just confirmed what I said🤣😂 I.e. ethanol and cannabis is a bad mix. Everyone knows that. Thank you 🤣😂

[NextG]

1 hour ago, Shocked farang said:

You are only looking at your side of the equation. I have watched many documentaries about people with all kinds of conditions who were helped by cannabis. You particular case really struck me a few years ago about a young girl whose family had moved to Colorado just to have access to medical cannabis, she had extremely painful migraines, she became quite ok after being treated with cannabis ( I mean full cannabis to be smoked, not only CBD). 

Adding to that, many moons ago when I entered an Amsterdam coffee shop, there was a girl in there with ME inhaling a bag of vapour from those special machines they had even back then. 
People were using it for medical reasons even back then, but they had to travel to Amsterdam to do it. 
So many ignorant people on these threads, spouting off when knowing nothing. 
Likely many of the people who you might think are smoking recreationally, are probably not. They perhaps choose to self medicate instead of going to a doctor and being prescribed pills for their condition. 
Even the people who you might have developed psychosis via smoking weed, had issues BEFORE they smoked the stuff. 
Think about how some people are scared of dogs. One person might be absolutely calm and the other might be having a panic attack. Both people in the same situation, standing next to each other, but completely different reactions. It’s not the weed; it’s you!

[Mark Nothing]

I have seen mostly negative affects since marijuana was legalized.

 

A shop opened up next to one of my coffee shops and the workers and clientele look like criminals.  Tattos up their necks.  Driving beat up cars and motorbikes.  Driving wrecklessly knocking over my friends parked motorbike while we were enjoying a coffee.  Driver was in a stupor.

 

My condo maintenance boy who has never been any good, doesn't even bother to bring his tools to repair jobs and tried to sell me marijuana instead of fixing my maintenance problem.  He probably pawned tools.

 

My regular fruit vendor lady was smoking joints while working, and then she couldn't figure out how to make change or how much her fruit costs.  Out of business now.

 

Driving on the roads has always been attrociously bad but now they aim for me while crossing the streets.  That is a new phenominon.

 

This legalization has been a big mistake and needs correcting.

[jts-khorat]

11 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

If they are going to make possession of up to 5 speed pills a crime that will not be prosecuted, it will be difficult to make possession of cannabis illegal, even if you are not allowed to use the cannabis in your possession.  If you claimed you didn't intend to use it but just liked the look and scent of it - like pot pourri - what could they do?

 

It will, of course be a giant scheme forcing all those small folks, who do not want to risk a police report being squashed only with the court case, to use brown envelopes.

 

I would say, a win-win for all the important people involved, from politicians to police to the big business owners (who loose all small competition in one quick cut). A typical Thai solution...

[ericthai]

17 hours ago, smedly said:

medical use might be ok, the benefits outweigh the risks/side effects as with many mainstream medications

Some studies show lower opioid use where Marijuana has been legalized. 

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/places-with-legal-marijuana-issue-fewer-opioid-prescriptions-large-studies-find

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/04/02/598787768/opioid-use-lower-in-states-that-eased-marijuana-laws

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190807092350.htm

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/huge-study-reveals-cannabis-provides-similar-pain-relief-benefits-as-opioids-without-negative-consequences/ar-AA1mLc2M

[spidermike007]

17 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Says the poster who regularly urges that the families of senators should be hounded for being in the pay of various interests...

Actually I don't say that, I say the senators should be criticized and punished for being in under (MBTA) morally bankrupt Thai army control. When the army takes over the organs of government that is positively evil, and a sign of significant moral bankruptcy. 

 

This is far worse than simple corruption. 

[spidermike007]

17 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

 

I completely disagree, right from the getgo the proponent of legalizing cannabis (Anutin) said recreational use was not allowed.  If someone was stupid enough to invest their money opening a weed shop with recreational cannabis as their target market then they deserve everything that’s coming.
 

Medicinal cannabis may have some benefits but recreational cannabis just causes problems across society.

 

I consider it far healthier for society than alcohol, very few people die on the highways from being high, but an awful lot of them die from being drunk. 

 

Also pot doesn't kill you, don't get cirrhosis of the liver from smoking a joint. 

 

Take your reefer madness nonsense stuff elsewhere. 

[spidermike007]

11 hours ago, Gilligan In Drag said:

There's also a pretty important consideration that gets ignored and thrown under the bus:

 

The dangers of prohibition.

 

Recreational drug use can  harm some, but so do governments that propagandize their people and render them 

that much more confused and ignorant in that process, or so can driving a car harm people. Supernovas explode with the power to annihilate whole local

star clusters, but also provide the material to form new worlds. Get used to it, Shiva. the god of destruction  is not worshipped

by 100's of millions of people in India for no reason, its a profound and prevasive aspect of life that the polite genteel gardners

of the western world think they can get under control by spraying their gardens with pesticides. When governments embark on drug wars and prohibitions you are effectively spraying your people with pesticides adding something equally as dangerous as rampant drug abuse if not more so

to the whole mix. Its not like no one knew that even 100 years ago either and its often what you read as to why they stopped alcohol prohibition in the west: its doesn't work and and creates more problems than it solves.

 

Prohibition is already a long discredited way to control the harmful effects of mass recreational drug use on society if it ever

is sincerely carried out to protect society, and personally I don't think it is done for that purpose.

 

It is clearly useful as a political tool, social control, and for the profit of entities like colonial and neo-colonial entites and drug companies,

branches of government and criminal elites. It is NEVER done to protect you, lets not be naive, there are no governments

that exist or who have ever existed that were sincerely that interested in their citizen's welfare. It isn't their job, its your job

if you want to live your life fully as a sentient sensible adult human being and if you think the government is able to protect you

from reality even if it wanted to, realities like there are many chemical compounds and plants that change people's behavior in ways that may be dangerous,

then you have been duped into helping them very actively not help you.

 

As we well know from the Iran-Contra scandal in the United States in the 1980's, an illegal drug market

is a great way for rogue actors in government and military to get funding they need to run wars and other projects

without approval, public knowledge and oversight. So in our weak efforts, efforts that seem these days to have completely failed, to have representative

and transparent government that genuinely serves their people throughout the world, drug prohibitions add even more problems to the human problems with running sovereign nations that treat its citizenry with due respect and are corrosive towards those ends of an accountable

government which acts with purpose that is clear to all making for a life that without intervention and stupid nannying

is actually genuinely safer and better for everyone.

 

People wax all snarky-barky on the forum whenever the cannabis legalization in Thailand topic comes up, "Oh, they just wanna

make a bunch of money!" The same can be said for illegalization, just that who makes the money will be different.

If its illegal then who makes the money changes hands those in government and business who are positioned to profit from illegal sales will benefit.

 

making weed illegal is not to save the children and adults of Thailand, if they were interested in that, other more key things would be prioritized

such as banning toxic chemicals, chemicals banned all over the world no less,

but used ubiquitously in food, agriculture. Or working to effectively ensure people have clean air and water.

Or how about protecting people from predatory doctors and pharmacies with malpractice laws.

Or how about instilling in people good basic health and safety awareness, or tryin gto create a system

that does not run on corruption so that laws protecting people from harmful pollutants, food and medication

will be enforced and Thailand can honestly test foods and drugs for harm creating capabilities. Theres plenty

of dangerous chemical compounds galore everytime you step into a shop or market or supermarket. Really, cannabis

and alcohol are scapegoats, even though of course one must be judicious in their use. But that goes without saying

for anything.

 

The health of Thai people is very poor, among the worst in Asia. Anywhere you go in Thailand you are exposed to life shortening levels

of agricultural poisons, a witches brew of compounds in the air from burning refuse and exposed in the cities to clouds of

auto-motive exhausts from easily solvable traffic problems. But there is no will to solve these problems because Thailand like many

countries is hopelessly corrupt and because of that the mentality is theres no immediate gain or opportunity to be gained from

solving those problems. Apparently there is somethingto be had from this cannabis legalization re-criminalization game or it would ne all shrugged off.

 

In addition to providing bad actors with illegal markets and their attendant inflated prices,

With drug prohibitions in place, drugs can be used as a way for government and law enforcement to

falsely imprison, fine and smear who ever they like.

We all know in urban areas everywhere that the police can and do plant drugs

on people who have broken no laws whenever they want to target someone to be taken down or merely fined.

Someone's occasional use of a recreational substance can be a way of completely removing

them from their well earned and capable positions. So, OK go ahead, re-criminalize cannabis

and hand law enforcement another tool to abuse their positions for their own gain and society's loss.

 

And then there's workplace and law enforcement drug testing that prohibition gives you.

And apart from the obviosu it has the unfortunate effect of having normalized the situation whereby

people forefeit their right human right to privacy and bodily autonomy and now your boss or the government or the police can

then have some not insignificant control over your neurochemistry, its not just the big bad

government or law enforcement standing between you and your brain, its your buddy you work with and say good morning to everyday.

Prohibition via drug testing then sets up these subtly corrosive and insidious relationships

like a cancer within the society. People like to recall the old communist regimes where

social empowerment and cohesion was shattered, even down down to the family level

by snitch networks. To me it seems the drug test is another species of this found in the post communist

uni-polar world soon to become multi again.

 

The drug test is also a routine way that law enforcement can arbitrarily extract fines whenever they like and detain who they like.

We are conditioned by the high-techness and scientific glamor of it to carry on in the media and to each other and ourselves

as though testing were actually a legitimate means to control the problem of drug use. Its a gizmo, wow! It must be the answer

to the problem of determining whose on drugs and who isn't. It clearly is not, its very well known drug tests

do not have high enough levels of accuracy and people who do not use drugs can be subject to life ruining

consequences should a law enforcement operative run a money saving or god forbid counterfeit and completely

arbitrary drug test and get a false result.

 

But we now mostly accept drug testing and naively think, and you deny the flakiness of drug tests and assure yorurself well I don't use drugs I have nothing to fear and this will help create a safe world and put the druggies in jail and rehab where they belong and all will be well. Just because you have a piece of technology doesn't mean you have anything legit. It could be anything and you don;t know

how that test actually comes by its results, its all completely opaque to the average person and the agencies and the compaines that make these

tests can hide behind that. They don't even have to make legitmate tests, in most countries such as the United States that even have

supposed consumer standards checks, the outfits are wholly corrupted. Why bother with selling a real test. Just pay some

person with a science degree 2 thousand dollars and presto you have a test that without fail and in 15 minutes tells you whether someone has taken an

illegal drug. Or consider how far you are going to get in Thailand investigating and challenging  whether even a fake test was conducted, all the police have to do

is say, "This is a drug test...and the drug test says you took an illegal drug...you'll have to give up your green papaya shaver manufacturing enterprise to us

because you'll be in for quite awhile." Just ask Americans about that kin dof thing, how now the government routinely seizes all of your assets

and has railroaded many innocent people, ruined them and never returned what was wrongfully seized from them because of a drug charge. there som ehorrific ironies afloat such as in one case traces of cocaine were found on crisp bank notes foun din a safe of one successful balck american business man and his defense attornies presented studies that found that because there is so much illegal drug running done by unmonitored military and government organizations in the United States, there is enough cocaine on every US dollar to incriminate and seize the assets of anyone they choose. So yeah, great, run a drug war and prohibition Thailand.

 

The story of this man who was run in and had yachts and homes and his business empire and assets seized because of a drug test is to be found in the  highly recommended two volume memoirs, Volume 1-Phikal and Volume 2-Tikal of the discoverer of the benefits of MDMA,

and inventor of hundreds of psychoactive compunds the experimental neuro-pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin. Shulgin himself was an eminently thoughtful and articulate and humane advocate for human freedom and potential. He experimented on himself and his friends and chronicalled in voluninous detailed the findings of the beneficial effects of compounds he created at his home laboratory funded by royalties he'd gained earlier in his career working for Dole Pineapple and his salary as a professor and public speaker at UC Berkeley in California. His interest was in psychoactive compounds long before they were in the public eye and concern, and so he got out of working as a chemist in big agriculture as soon as he could. But despite being among the very few given license to investigate and create psychoactive chemicals  by the US government, the DEA decided eventually to go in and tear his lab apart and end his activities by prosecuting him to destroy his work and even ban his book which detailed to the public the effects and methods to synthesize just about anything he found or made himself. The power of a mandate of a drug prohibition gave the DEA, the agency charged with fighting the drug war against the whole world  the overeach to go in and bust up the research. The library of Alexander (Shulgin) has been burned to the ground and decades have now passed in which the befits and nature of the human mind may forever remain obscured.

 

And then there is the way that  drug testing  has opened pandora's box to use flakey technologies  to be able to

predict or even read a person's mind for pre-crime and of course as we know there is much discussion

by governments and law enforcement authorities about how

a pre-crime or a test result saying you were about to commit a crime will be tantamount in the future to

having actually done the crime. To me it would seem that drug testing is a similar operation. Your crime of

having been inebriated and thus a danger to yourself and others is not otherwise apparent. So you have to

take the drug test which in effect says, you are a danger before the fact, its a type of pre-crime indicator in many cases.

 

And also, not to mention, that drug testing, like background checks and monitoring employee

internet activities is used as a shabby substitute for   critical thinking and

evaluative skills, and distracts probably all

companies to some degree from spending time and resources and getting actually competent management

who are foscused on actually able to evaluate employee work and performance and actual behavior on the job.

The society that is on drugs and "on" prohibition, as prohibition is just as capable of creating a deluded nation as a drugs are 

hallucinates as it runs the drug test, the surreptitious background check, the application gathered  look at

an employee's comments and other activities  on internet.

The normalization of superfluous and glamorous high tech tools with limited benefit especially in places

like Thailand where critical and evaluative skills are under developed no doubt lowers the quality of life for everyone.

Indeed ruling institutions and individuals do not want people to have the ability to evaluate performance and behavior

lest their managerial class begin to turn those well honed workplace skills against them. So, you give them the drug that is

drug tests and multi-choice personality investigation quizzes and monitor their twitter posts in lieu. its also no doubt a lot more fun

and inspiring for managers to get to play god and say lets see if Nigel was smoking dope on the weekend and ask him to submit a drug test

rather than going through the monotony of actually looking at what he is doing and having to weigh many considerations

as to whether he's helping the company or organization or govt branch that pays him. You can just save all that headache and hours of boredom

by doing a simple and fun drug test with lots of cool bells and whistles and colors and charts and then be able to proclaim with complete conviction,  "Ah ha! He uses drugs! And he talks a load of crap that i don't appreciate on facebook! I knew he was on drugs! He's out of here! I don't care that he is the star developer!"

 

How much does it matter if your star developer tests positive for cocaine and marijuana, especially if you never ran

a test you'd never have known. Just the act of running a test for drugs is an admission that there is no obvious problem

with your employee's performance in the first place.

 

So thanks to drug prohibition its now acceptable for management to go through the

motions of monitoring the effectiveness of their employees, its essentially a ritual substituting for

real discernment: is the employee an asset in his actual behavior and real contributions. I have never

worked under any Thai manager, and I have worked under many, who could evaluate the quality of anyone's

work or understand the value or liability to the work environment of employees in their charge. They look at

anything but, they understand almost everything but is this work he's doing good or not.
 

Yet the discussion here on the threads and in media and by the government ignores the dire price to be

paid by society as a whole for a drug war or prohibition. They seem blithely unaware despite the precedent

despite the semi-detente in the west regarding recreational cannabis.

 

The end of alcohol prohibition in the United States left us with that conclusion, that was nearly a century ago

yet as soon as alcohol prohibition ended JD Anslinger picked up the reigns and fired the fuel of hysteria against cannabis.

But as that all begin sto end Thailand not only makes a false move to undo it but it decides to say no actually screw all that.

It really seems to doubly affirm their commitment to harming their population to using prohibition for political gain and enriching themselves

and their overlords.

 

 

Great post, thanks for that, very good information and some very sound theories, the worst amongst the many aspects that you've discussed is locking people off for recreational use of ganja. That is just one of the most evil and malicious things that any law enforcement agency or government can engage in. Nobody should ever serve jail time for possession of any amount of ganja. 

[spidermike007]

17 hours ago, Zack61 said:

The genie is out of the bottle and now they are trying to put it back. 
If we are going to be honest with the situation we have to admit the current laws were passed without a lot of thought of consequences. Whilst I love a puff as much as the next guy I do concede the current situation is only going to lead to more pain for many in the form of irresponsible use and behaviour leading to more road deaths and accidents as well as other long term health affects from blatant abuse of the stuff. 
I do believe in the up side regarding health benefits but getting stoned and then getting behind the wheel or handle bars is not a health benefit for anyone. I gave it up 5 years ago after smoking it for 40 years and I can’t say I regret it. My memory was being f##ked over and I was doing some silly things. 
I appreciate the investment ploughed into the grass business but I do believe the current laws need to be amended to at least try to protect innocent lives that may be inadvertently affected by some irresponsible users. These laws were passed in haste for political and financial advantage and now need to be reconsidered. 

I used to smoke too, for a few decades and even when I was high on the most powerful stuff, nearly obliterated out of my mind, my reflexes were far sharper than they are after I've had three drinks. I never even came close to getting in a traffic accident, when I drink it's a whole different story.

 

Alcohol is infinitely more dangerous than ganja on a dozen different levels. Not to mention tobacco, as you say both are industries that the government generates huge income from.

 

Hypocrisy? Absolutely, in its worst form and at its ugliest level. 

[whereyougo]

Allow use only bye the booze hours of 7-11 alcohol purchase. That will fix it 5555 

[MonteD]

17 hours ago, Shocked farang said:

There is a YouTuber who interviewed a cannabis store owner (a big shop on Sukhunwit Rd) and this guy claims

that he's totally prepared for what is coming as next to the shop he has a clinic that will employ many Thai traditional medicine doctors who will be able to issue prescriptions for any recreational customer who needs one! Brilliant!!!

 

I agree, even Steve Wonder could see that coming.

[ericthai]

13 hours ago, RobU said:

Did you actually read my post? Documented fact that cannabis causes Paranoia combine that with alcohol and you have big trouble including domestic violence and murder for no reason whatsoever 

let me guess, you've never smoked...

[freedomnow]

Flip-flop Thai politicians doing what they do best....

 

 

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

Nice one,    I think many will also quietly continue here as they have done for centuries,  My brother in law , a police inspector, confirmed a long time ago that he considered   "Lao" to be the best 

 

My ex-wife was Laotian. Not the best by any means, but certainly right up there with them.

[Danderman123]

The question is what will happen to this draft bill.

 

The dangers and benefits of marijuana are not a factor.

[waders123]

20 hours ago, Zack61 said:

The genie is out of the bottle and now they are trying to put it back. 
If we are going to be honest with the situation we have to admit the current laws were passed without a lot of thought of consequences. Whilst I love a puff as much as the next guy I do concede the current situation is only going to lead to more pain for many in the form of irresponsible use and behaviour leading to more road deaths and accidents as well as other long term health affects from blatant abuse of the stuff. 
I do believe in the up side regarding health benefits but getting stoned and then getting behind the wheel or handle bars is not a health benefit for anyone. I gave it up 5 years ago after smoking it for 40 years and I can’t say I regret it. My memory was being f##ked over and I was doing some silly things. 
I appreciate the investment ploughed into the grass business but I do believe the current laws need to be amended to at least try to protect innocent lives that may be inadvertently affected by some irresponsible users. These laws were passed in haste for political and financial advantage and now need to be reconsidered. 

Let's put the blame on road deaths where it belongs....IDIOTS and POOR ENFORCEMENT!  A vehicle doesn't kill...The operator of the vehicle is to blame.  Create and stick with stiff penalties for those who have bad behaviors.  Don't let them buy their way out of it. Bad behavior is bad behavior whether straight, drunk, or high.  Go after the individual; don't punish everyone for that idiot's actions. I'm afraid I have to disagree with placing the "blame" regarding road deaths on that green leafy stuff; I blame the idiot behind the wheel.  

[fondue zoo]

17 hours ago, Robert Tyrrell said:

Good Afternoon,

 

why would you want to squash a 1.8 Billion Thai Baht annually in government revenue !!?? 

Alcohol kills far more then cannabis will ever !! 
No problem with underage drinking in Thailand, Thai Youth underage going to village shops buying beer 🍺 and whiskey 🥃For there parents and drinking and driving and killing people.

Not to mention trying to stop a booming industry that’s providing Thais with jobs and opportunities for farmers, Especially during a global economic downturn. 
Common Sense Thailand 🇹🇭 !!!! 

 

The Ten Families had to be sure they wouldn't be condemned morally before they took it all over. Let the unwashed poorrs play in the pool for a bit, gauge public and international opinions and then when it's value can be determined it's all of a sudden "a private pool, everyone out of the pool, we'll take it from here, you'll only spend the money on boring poorrs things and yoda bongs."  

This stratagem is not specific to Siam.

 

[cdnvic]

Posts contravening our code of conduct have been removed.

[RobU]

5 hours ago, ericthai said:

let me guess, you've never smoked...

Yes I have I remember one time when I was going through hell, probably the most stressful time of my life. I smoked a joint and slept for the first time in weeks. Very easy to become dependant on something like that just like alcoholism. Which is what usually happens then it's just a slippery slope to abuse of the substance and it's paranoic side effects. Fortunately I didn't need it again what I have quoted is an example of the medical use of cannabis which in modern times doesn't need to be smoked and should be strictly controlled like all the other soporific drugs on the market.

[herfiehandbag]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I used to smoke too, for a few decades and even when I was high on the most powerful stuff, nearly obliterated out of my mind, my reflexes were far sharper than they are after I've had three drinks.

I never even came close to getting in a traffic accident, when I drink it's a whole different story.

 

Alcohol is infinitely more dangerous than ganja on a dozen different levels. Not to mention tobacco, as you say both are industries that the government generates huge income from.

 

Hypocrisy? Absolutely, in its worst form and at its ugliest level. 

Years ago, I found myself in a car in which the driver and the other passengers were high. It was scary.

 

"even when I was high on the most powerful stuff, nearly obliterated out of my mind, my reflexes were far sharper than they are after I've had three drinks." - I really don't think so, just as a drunk driver is sometimes convinced that the alcohol makes him a better driver is! By the way I don't condone drunk driving!

 

I would also suggest that there are physical health risks associated with regular smoking, be it marijuana or tobacco.

 

I tend to agree that there is an element of hypocrisy in banning cannabis whilst allowing alcohol and tobacco, but, there are many worse and uglier hypocrisies both in Thailand and worldwide,

 

 

[brfsa2]

14 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Most of the regulations and penalties in the draft are for businesses and growers in the cannabis trade.  For users I see only the 60,000 baht fine for recreational use and the 1 year in jail and/or 20,000 baht fine for driving while intoxicated with cannabis. 

 

This driving aspect seems to overlap with the existing law on driving while intoxicated with alcohol or other substances, where I think the maximum penalties are higher.  There is wording about the obligation to take a cannabis test, if demanded, and you are deemed intoxicated with cannabis, if you refuse to be tested.  But it doesn't say what the limit is or what type of testing they will do.  I don't think anyone has out with a particularly suitable test for roadside testing. Most existing tests will just confirm that you consumed cannabis within the last few days but it is hard to determine whether someone is intoxicated to the point that driving would be impaired.  They could end up busting anyone who has any traces of cannabis in their system, even if they are stone cold sober.  This would be unfair as they allow a small amount of alcohol in the body.

 

Cannabis tests can detect THC in the urine for usage between 1 and 30 days. not sure how a quick test can tell if a person  has consumed the same day or the day before, and which one counts as a felony?

Unless it's a very high dose, Cannabis doesn't influence driving capacity, it does make you drive like you are sleepy, which can be dangerous for some people.

What many people will never get is that Cannabis is not like Alcohol. Small doses of cannabis are really good for many reasons. 

 

I dont drink or smoke tobacco, I hate those 2.

I have kids, a busy work from home schedule, busy life, train muay thai and bjj and do regular exercises. 

Most days in the morning or in the afternoon I really need to smoke a bit feel a bit released and more energetic, it really helps me a lot to motivate in the mornings and get me through some hard days.

At times I dont smoke for weeks, like when I go to Japan or Singapore for regular work. One thing I learned is to have micro doses, I buy 10g-20g of pop or trims of my favorite strains and it last me like a whole month or more for just 500 Baht!

Micro dosage is amazing, small doses are great, medium to high doses makes you way too lazy, high doses you are couch locked or too passed out.

it also helps me a lot to get rid of all the arthritis pain I get on my knees and also the pain from my training when I get beat up often.

 

For some people it helps a lot, for some it doesnt make sense or they dont need it.