Global Ganja Report

Thailand's government on June 26 approved new measures restricting the sale of cannabis to those with a doctor's prescription, in the hope of reining in an industry that officials see as out of control. The public health ministry also says that consumption of cannabis is to be re-criminalized, although a date for that has not been set.

There has been a frenzy of investment since cannabis was decriminalized in Thailand in 2022. There are now some 11,000 registered dispensaries in the country, with whole districts of Bangkok devoted to the new economic sector. In the famous backpacker haven of Khao San Road, there is an entire shopping mall dedicated to selling flower heads and other cannabis products. (BBC News)

And the Bangkok Post retports that in rural areas such as northern Nakhon Ratchasima province, farmers who are just starting to win returns from cannabis crops fear that their dreams are about to go "up in smoke." 

The policy about-face follows a government shake-up in which the coalition that came to power in 2023, including reformist figures, collapsed. Pro-reformist Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinwatra now faces a no-confidence vote, and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has been forced to step down. (Reuters, The Nation)

Proposals to reverse the decrim policy were first broached a year ago when the coalition began to fracture. Last July, cannabis advocates held a protest march in Bangkok to oppose the proposed recriminalization. (AP)

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