Thailand Health Minister: ‘Cannabis Users Will Need Medical Certificates’
In recent years, Thailand’s cannabis industry has increased in size and scope thanks to a cannabis policy change in 2022. However, Thailand’s Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin stated at a press conference today that the nation’s government is likely to implement new regulations soon, including requiring cannabis retailers to limit sales to customers who have a medical prescription.
“Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin says cannabis users in Thailand will be required to have medical certificates to make sure that the plant is used for medical purposes only.” reported Bangkok Post in its local coverage.
“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,” Minister Somsak said, according to the media outlet.
Starting in 1979, cannabis was scheduled as a class-5 narcotic under Thailand’s Narcotic Act. The Act prohibited smoking, possessing, and selling cannabis. Thailand later legalized medical cannabis in 2019, and in 2022, Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul issued a ministerial regulation removing cannabis from Thailand’s list of narcotic drugs.
Thailand’s historic cannabis policy shift in 2022 was supposed to pave the way for the nation’s emerging cannabis industry to become a regional and international powerhouse, and to some degree, that is what happened.
At one point, every household in the entire country could sign up to legally cultivate low-THC cannabis plants, which a reported 1.1 million citizens of Thailand did. Public Health Minister Charnvirakul indicated that there would be no plant limit for the government’s cannabis cultivation program. Thailand’s government also gave away over 1 million cannabis seeds directly to households that signed up for the program.
A broad spectrum of government agencies in Thailand agreed to do their part to push Thailand’s emerging cannabis industry forward after the 2022 policy change. But that was under the previous government. Thailand’s new government has taken a much different position on cannabis policy.
The ruling Pheu Thai Party has pushed to recriminalize cannabis in Thailand since it took power, although the push has faced opposition from its coalition partner. Changes to Thailand’s cannabis policies have seemingly been announced multiple times over the last year, but actual changes have yet to occur. Only time will tell what happens next, and with it, how Thailand’s emerging industry will be impacted.