The Bangkok Post
Relisting cannabis as a narcotic will make it easier to control the use of the plant for positive purposes such as medicinal use, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Tuesday.
The government aims to allow cannabis to be used for medicinal purposes, to promote good health and to stimulate the economy, he said. He was responding to growing calls by pro-cannabis groups and political parties for a law to control its use rather than blacklisting it completely.
He drew attention to the cannabis and hemp bill proposed by the Bhumjaithai Party during the previous parliament, after the government removed cannabis from the Narcotic Drug List in June 2022. That bill passed its first reading but was later rejected in the second reading in the lower House. Mr Somsak said it failed due to its shortcomings.
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Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in his capacity as leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, said that if the government intends to relist cannabis as a narcotic, it must demonstrate what has changed to justify overturning its decision a couple of years ago to make it legal.
“What has been left unexplained is why we are not pushing to pass a cannabis and hemp control law instead. Also, why hasn’t the vast increase in cannabis use for medicinal purposes been mentioned?” asked Mr Anutin.
Bhumjaithai successfully pushed to decriminalise cannabis, as promised to its voters, he said.
If the current administration wants to reverse that decision, it will have to give a clear explanation to those who have invested millions of baht in the cannabis business, he said.
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