The estimated $1 billion cannabis industry is now in a state of uncertainty as Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health issued an order on Tuesday night to restrict use to medical purposes.
According to government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub, cannabis had caused serious social issues for young people and needed to be reformed.
Jirayu stated in a statement that the policy must return to its original intention of limiting cannabis for medical use only.
However, the order hasn’t yet become law.
The government has not specified when that will happen, but it will need to be made known before it can become effective in the official Royal Gazette.
Thailand became the first Asian nation to completely legalize marijuana in 2022, a move that has largely attracted tourists but whose attitudes toward more traditional Thais are less favorable.
In Thailand over the past three years, there have been countless cannabis stores opening, but the government has repeatedly tried to repress the situation.
In response to Thailand’s wider political unrest, the government recently made a decision to ban marijuana use.
Due to how improperly handled a border conflict with Cambodia, the Bhumjaithai Party, which was a proponent of decriminalizing marijuana, withdrew from the government’s ruling coalition last week.
The cannabis trade, according to previous estimates from the Thai Chamber of Commerce, could be worth $1.2 billion by 2025, but experts claim that the industry’s potential has not been realized due to the uncertainty that has plagued decriminalization’s regulatory framework.
Source: Aljazeera
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