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Thailand
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Thailand decriminalises cannabis on Thursday. What’s going to change?

  • The conservative, Buddhist-majority country known for its tough policies on drug trafficking is set to become the first Asian nation to decriminalise cannabis
  • It will no longer be a crime to grow and trade marijuana and hemp products, and the health ministry plans to give away 1 million plants to households

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Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul spearheaded the country’s drive to decriminalise cannabis. Photo: AP
Bloomberg
Thailand is set to decriminalise cannabis starting on Thursday, the first such move in Asia, as it seeks to grab a slice of a growing market for marijuana-infused food and medicinal cannabis treatments.
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It will no longer be a crime to grow and trade marijuana and hemp products, a move aimed at bolstering the country’s crucial agriculture and tourism sectors.

However, prospects for the Thai cannabis trade will be limited by the country’s ban on recreational use and the production of anything with more than 0.2 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound that gives users a “high” sensation.

What’s behind the move?

Thailand, a conservative, Buddhist-majority country also known for tough policies on drug trafficking and curbs on alcohol, began liberalising its cannabis laws in 2018 with the legalisation of medical marijuana.

The latest step to allow more people to grow cannabis was spearheaded by tycoon-turned politician Anutin Charnvirakul, who believes that controlled legalisation of marijuana can boost agriculture and tourism.

The deputy prime minister, who heads the health ministry, campaigned on a promise to legalise household marijuana and hemp cultivation to allow farmers to supplement their incomes.

Companies and individual farmers will be allowed to cultivate marijuana and hemp plants, but recreational use is still banned. Photo: Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS
Companies and individual farmers will be allowed to cultivate marijuana and hemp plants, but recreational use is still banned. Photo: Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS

What does decriminalisation mean?

It will no longer be a crime to use parts of the marijuana and hemp plants, which belong to the cannabis plant family.

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