Court accepts lawsuit against Anutin for decriminalising marijuana in Thailand
The Central Administrative Court has accepted a lawsuit filed by a doctor and opposition MPs seeking to nullify the Public Health Ministry’s directive that decriminalises marijuana.
On November 10, Smith Srisont, a member of the Medical Council and president of the Forensic Physician Association of Thailand, filed a lawsuit naming Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) as co-defendants.
The court accepted the case and set up a panel of judges to deliberate on it. One of the judges has been assigned as an advocacy judge.
The court has not yet decided whether to issue an injunction on the directive as requested in the lawsuit.
Other co-plaintiffs are Pheu Thai party-list MP Sutin Klungsang, Parchachart Party’s secretary-general Tawee Sodsong, Move Forward party-list MP Nattawut Buaprathum, deputy Seri Ruam Thai Party leader Varit Varotsirin and Palang Puangchon Chao Thai Party leader Nikhom Boonvises.
The lawsuit asks the court to nullify the Public Health Ministry’s directive dated February 8, 2022, that removes marijuana from the list of Category 5 narcotics.
The directive went into effect in early September and decriminalised marijuana despite warnings from doctors who fear young people will consume marijuana freely in the absence of a governing law.
