He explained that a new law being pushed through parliament will regulate the use of cannabis including requiring anyone who deals in the substance to obtain a licence and specifying that the strength of cannabis product be well below the level normally associated with users getting high on the illegal drug. Mr Wissanu also highlighted the difficulty the government and law agencies will face in controlling recreational cannabis use under the proposed new regime following significant moves this week to decriminalise what, for now, remains a Category 5 narcotic.
In the last week, Mr Viroj Sumyai, an accepted expert on controlled substances, former senior official with Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration and past President of the International Narcotics Control Board from 2017 to 2019, has advised that allowing households to cultivate cannabis plants is fraught with difficulty.
James Morris is a pename for an international writer based in Bangkok who works on various international news media.