In Thailand, still no agreement on the legalization of cannabis

Will Thailand's parliament run out of time to pass its cannabis legalization bill? The country's legislators remain divided on the main provisions of the legislation, leaving Thailand's cannabis industry in a grey area.

Areas of uncertainty and disagreement

The House of Representatives failed to conclude the second reading of the bill, the last session devoted to studying the project to legalize cannabis in Thailand before the parliamentary recess.

The delay was caused by certain factions of legislators who argued that the bill didn't go far enough to disincentivize recreational cannabis use, and called for the plant to be re-listed as a narcotic.

With Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha planning to dissolve Parliament next month ahead of elections scheduled for May, the fate of the bill will depend on the next government. A bill usually has to be passed by a majority of MPs in three readings, before being submitted to the Senate for approval to become law.

The ransom of the avant-garde

Thailand has become the the first Asian country to decriminalize cannabis in the year last by removing the plant from the list of narcotics. Officially, only medical use is legal, and recreational use cannot be punished, subject to a few conditions (no children present, no unlicensed sales...) and without being legally regulated.

This decriminalization has led to a proliferation of dispensaries selling all kinds of cannabis-based products, giving a glimpse of what was already available on the black market despite the country's firm previous policy.

Growing concerns about the impact of legalization on young people have also threatened to topple an industry estimated to be worth over a billion euros by 2025.

The liberalization of cannabis has divided Thailand's political parties, with the Bhumjaithai Party, led by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, spearheading the widespread use and cultivation of the plant by households. Many opposition parties and the Democrat Party, a member of the ruling coalition, want to reverse the decriminalization.

«It is clear that the bill will not be passed in this session. We will resubmit the cannabis bill to the next parliament,» said Supachai Jaisamut, a legislator from the Bhumjaithai party. «People who don't want cannabis to be criminalized again should vote for Bhumjaithai».

The government has repeatedly stated that June's decriminalization was aimed at the medical and commercial use of cannabis rather than recreational purposes, although the bill did not go so far as to explicitly prohibit smoking for recreational purposes.

According to Mr. Supachai, the rules on cannabis issued by the Ministry of Health are sufficient to control the industry for the time being. These rules include restrictions on unpleasant odors in public, sales to pregnant women or people under 20, and commercial advertising.