Thai Govt aims banning weed shop without prescription
3 min read
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin ordered to improve regulation on cannabis as dispensaries must have a doctor, buyers must have a prescription, strictly control on recreational users, growers must meet GACP criteria, and increase the penalty for imprisonment as he wanted to see the regulation issued by the Ministry of Public Health within 40 days
The key change would require cannabis users to have a medical certificate, with prescriptions issued by licensed medical professionals, including both traditional Thai medicine practitioners and general physicians.
“I will improve regulations on cannabis use in Thailand. For example, cannabis smokers may have to show medical certificates. Foreign and Thai cannabis users must have medical certificates, We will order government organisations to keep enforcing the law and not to allow any problems to develop,” Mr Somsak said at a press conference
Dr Somlerk Jeungsmarn, director-general of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine added that there may be restrictions on its use, such as a permitted dosage for one month’s use. If the duration of use exceeds one month, that will not be considered for medical purposes and there will be prosecution. As for punishment, I will discuss the possibility of imprisonment
Bhumjaithai flagship policy
Bangkokpost reported that Decriminalising cannabis has been a flagship policy of the Bhumjaithai Party, which saw the potential for creating a lucrative cannabis-based economy. When Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul was the minister of public health in the government of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, he issued a ministerial regulation removing cannabis from the national list of narcotic drugs, But few other regulations existed to govern cannabis usage, and a free-for-all ensued, with recreational use skyrocketing and weed shops sprouting all over the country.
Bhumjaithai proposed a law to plug the holes, but the Prayut government’s term ran out before it could be debated. The Pheu Thai government last September proposed a new bill to regulate the cannabis industry and restrict marijuana use to primarily health and medical purposes, the latest effort to rein in recreational smoking after several policy U-turns. The bill has not yet been introduced in the House of Representatives. Under the draft legislation, cannabis or its extracts would be allowed for medical treatment and research by state agencies besides its use in herbal, food and cosmetic products. The bill was published by the Ministry of Public Health just days after the new administration of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took office. The draft bill appears to take a softer stance compared to previous government efforts to regulate the industry. For one, it no longer contains a clause that explicitly outlaws recreational use, which was proposed in an earlier draft by the administration of former prime minister Srettha Thavisin, But opposition from Bhumjaithai, the second-biggest party in the coalition, forced Pheu Thai to walk back on its pledge and keep the plant legal. The draft legislation calls for licensing rules on cannabis planting, sales, exports and imports all to be tightened, with current growers, suppliers or related businesses required to have or apply for new licences or permits — or face hefty jail terms or fines.
news origin at BangkokPost
