The government’s latest draft cannabis law looks to end a legal vacuum that unintentionally allowed the recreational marijuana industry to flourish after a 2022 decision to declassify the drug as a narcotic.
The new law could radically alter the business prospects for thousands of cannabis store owners and cultivators if they’re not fully compliant – depending on how authorities choose to enforce any new rules.
Some of the draft law’s proposed changes include:
- Moving to a license system for personal cultivation, away from a simple notification system.
- Giving police more authority to enforce key components of the law, particularly the ability to seize products from rule-breaking businesses.
- Prohibiting the sale of smokable marijuana outside the medical market (though the government hasn’t said how it plans to differentiate between medical and recreational.)
- Issuing fines and prison sentences for anyone – including business proprietors – who violates the law.
Pongchaiwat Jirayustienjinda, an associate at Bangkok-based Tilleke & Gibbins and a member of the law firm’s marijuana team, said the pending draft of the Cannabis and Hemp Act prohibits any use of the plant for recreational purposes, including smoking.
“However, the draft is still under consideration, and the public hearing was just completed at the end of January 2024,” he told MJBizDaily via email.
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