Will medical cannabis soon be legal in Thailand?

Last Wednesday, a political representative told AFP that the medical cannabis law will have its first reading in the military junta's legislature as early as next month. The official discourse defends patients' rights and presents legalization as an economic opportunity through the export of the plant. However, some see it as an attempt by the government to give itself a progressive image ahead of the next elections scheduled for February 2019.

Not a new project

The legalization of medical cannabis seems close at hand for Thailand, but the date, process and government under which it will take place remain unclear. After coming to power in a coup four years ago, the military junta is attempting to implement a democratic transition and is working on its image to win re-election. It would like to be the government that implements medical cannabis and had already given the green light amending anti-drug laws or has kilos of cannabis transferred to researchers to study the plant's therapeutic potential. The Prime Minister was also recently presented with a study on the pros and cons of legalization.

According to Dr. Sopon Mekton, According to the advisor to the Ministry of Public Health, there are five possible routes to the legalization of medical cannabis. The first option would be to revise the narcotics code, but this would take a lot of time. Instead, it would be possible simply to reclassify cannabis from category 5 of the narcotics list to category 2, which contains morphine, for example. This would be tantamount to decriminalization.

Another solution is to directly prepare a legislative text on legalization. Drafting a specific text for presentation to the assembly would take a lot of time, but the assembly itself can draft a bill. This is what the assembly has started to do, and the text should be finalized as early as next month. «We have submitted the text to the spokesman,» explains Jet Sirathraanon, chairman of the public health committee in charge of drafting the text. «I'm doing this because it represents an opportunity for the Thai people. Thailand has the best cannabis in the world», he adds.

It is likely, however, that the law's parliamentary journey will be a slow one. that it will not be completed before the next elections which would further delay its entry into force, or even render it obsolete. A final solution then remains: invoke Section 44, a special article that allows bypassing laws and regulations and was widely used by the military government. With this article, legalization would be ready in just three months. However, some Thais have had enough of the government's so-called dictatorial practices. Recently, a clip made by Thai rappers, denouncing the country's dictatorship, went viral. Instead of resorting to censorship, the government decided to respond with an official rap, which was not as successful.