Thai Gov Delays Ban On Cannabis As Anxious Business People Prepare To File Thousands Of Lawsuits

Thailand's government postponed the consideration of a draft legislation that would ban the recreational use of marijuana. The measure needs more opinions from other parties, which requires more time, Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew, said after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, when the bill was supposed to be submitted, writes Bloomberg. 

“The new Bill will be amended from the existing one to only allow the use of cannabis for health and medicinal purposes,” Srikaew, a physician and politician, told reporters last week when he announced the plan to change the current law. “The use for fun is considered wrong.”

New pressure from the public to reverse the cannabis law came after a recent concert of British rock band Coldplay when attendees complained on social media platforms saying “the entire concert smelled like marijuana."

Thailand regulated medical marijuana use in 2018 and decriminalized marijuana in June 2022, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to do so and third in the world after Uruguay and Canada. Since then, pot shops have shot up across the country, due to a lack of regulation.

Weed U-Turn May Cause Thousands Of Lawsuits

With so many cannabis retailers, entrepreneurs, producers and advocates in Thailand, the question is: how would they react to the sudden change of law? What's more, marijuana decriminalization has boosted Thailand's economy, after the Covid 19 pandemic caused a drastic decline in its tourism industry. After all, Thailand is the only weed-friendly destination in Asia.

"If this bill completely passes, it's going to be hard. It prohibits a lot of things. It puts criminal charges and heavy fines on violations which are unfair," said Rattapon Sanrak, the founder of the advocacy group Highland, reported South China Morning Post. 

Soranut "Beer" Masayavanich, the owner of a cannabis dispensary that was ready to launch on the first day of decriminalization, is anxious about the future. 

"Nobody in their right mind would do what they're doing," he told the outlet. "So I hope they're just bluffing."

What's more, Beer indicated a possibility of multiple class-action suits against the government, "Everyone is talking to lawyers," he said. 

The newly proposed rules would fine recreational use with 60,000 baht (around $1,700), unlicensed growers could get five years in prison and 500,000 baht fines. 

Benjamin Baskins, CEO of OG Canna, who operates some of Bangkok's biggest dispensaries believes the bill doesn't stand a chance in its current form. "They're going to have to answer a lot more questions before they can pass anything," Baskins said. "They're going to have so many lawsuits. How are they going to deal with 7,000 lawsuits from dispensaries, and thousands more from growers? At all the big companies, the lawyers are ready."

Beer concluded that criminalizing marijuana once again would just lead to the proliferation of illegal markets. 

"I'll be fine. I was underground before and can be underground again," he said, adding that the new black market will be much bigger and uglier than before. 

Continue reading on the South China Morning Post. 

Related Links: 

Thailand Takes A U-Turn On Weed, Spain's Health Minister On MMJ Reform And More Global Cannabis Updates 

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Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Clker-Free-Vector-Images, REDQUASAR  via Pixabay and Felix Haumann via Pexels