Thailand Unveils New Bill To Regulate Cannabis Industry
by Dario Sabaghi · ForbesThailand’s new government has introduced a bill to regulate the cannabis industry without expressly criminalizing recreational cannabis.
The Ministry of Health, under the new government led by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has published a bill open for comments until September 30 to regulate the cannabis industry, avoiding the criminalization of recreational cannabis but without explicitly regulating its use.
This represents an anticipated U-turn for cannabis legislation in Thailand, as it has been caught in political crossfire since it was decriminalized.
Cannabis in Thailand has undergone multiple legal changes. Medical use was legalized in 2018, and recreational use was decriminalized in 2022 but not regulated. This led to thousands of shops using the lack of regulation as a loophole to sell cannabis products, creating an unregulated cannabis market. Former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, elected in 2023, vowed to recriminalize recreational cannabis by reclassifying it under narcotics law. However, the new government under Prime Minister Paetongtarn, elected by the Parliament after Srettha was unseated by the Constitutional Court for falling short of ethical and moral standards, now seeks to regulate the cannabis industry without recriminalizing recreational use but not even regulating it, potentially causing further challenges for businesses and consumers.
The new bill aims to regulate the use, cultivation, and sale of cannabis and hemp, which are not classified as narcotics in the country’s narcotics law, seeking to address the health, economic, and impacts on society of widespread cannabis and hemp use while balancing public health concerns with the benefits of medical, agricultural, and economic opportunities.
A relevant aspect of the bill is the formation of a “Cannabis and Hemp Committee” to oversee and enforce regulations, which will be responsible for developing policies, issuing regulations, and promoting the responsible use of cannabis and hemp in medicine, industry, and agriculture.
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The bill also regulates the issuance of licenses, detailing requirements for the cultivation, production, import, export, and sale of cannabis and hemp, and protects consumers by restricting advertising of cannabis and hemp products, prohibiting sales to minors, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, and regulating sales near educational institutions, introducing penalties, including imprisonment and fines, for unlicensed cultivation and rule violations. For example, the bill stipulates that anyone using cannabis or its extracts for unapproved purposes will face a fine of up to 60,000 baht ($1,803). Retailers who sell cannabis or its products for unauthorized uses may face up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($3,013), or both.
Furthermore, the bill sets guidelines for cannabis and hemp use in medical, research, and educational settings, includes safety measures for consumption, such as driving under the influence, and establishes enforcement mechanisms for compliance.
The bill doesn’t explicitly allow recreational cannabis use. It imposes strict restrictions on cannabis consumption and sale for non-medical purposes, prohibiting its sale outside of specified uses like medical treatment, research, and industrial applications.
Therefore, while the new bill would allow cannabis and its extracts to be used for medical treatment, research, and in herbal, food, and cosmetic products, it may still trouble growers, producers, and shops in Thailand, which sell a wide array of cannabis products.
As the current law limits THC content to 0.2%, the new rules may restrict cannabis use in Thailand, which experienced a boom in cannabis shops nationwide, including in popular tourist areas.