Recriminalising cannabis may kill Thailand’s flowering weed industry: experts

After cannabis was removed from the narcotics list on June 9 last year, Kasikorn Research Centre forecast the value of Thailand’s weed market would hit 21 billion baht by 2024, driven by demand from Thais and foreign tourists.

Although election-winner Move Forward faces obstacles in its bid to form a coalition government, its cannabis policy has sparked fears among industry stakeholders, especially the 12,000 or so businesses that sell, process and study cannabis nationwide.

Panthep Puaphongphan, dean of Rangsit University's Institute of Integrative Medicine and Anti-Aging, said if cannabis is relisted as a narcotic, possession without a doctor's prescription will be considered a criminal offence.

People who grow cannabis will be considered narcotics producers, while consumers may be penalised even for medical use, he said.

Move Forward has pledged to roll back cannabis decriminalisation if it takes power, a move that would threaten thousands of weed stalls, shops, and dispensaries that have mushroomed nationwide since last June.

He said the policy also requires animal and human testing of cannabis-containing medicines, which would increase the price for these items and expel small players from the market.

Only large drug manufacturers and medical corporations would gain benefits from the policy, he said.

This would run counter to one of the stated motivations for legalising marijuana, which was to allow grassroots communities to grow and market the herb to increase local incomes.

Panthep added that doctors would also be reluctant to prescribe cannabis-containing drugs because of the high prices.

The academic said Move Forward’s policy would also impact the food and food supplement business, as operators would no longer be able to add cannabis to their products.

He predicted that patients, farmers and businesses would protest and demand a review of the policy if it is implemented in its present form.

"There will be protest if cannabis becomes a narcotic again as there are now many stakeholders," he said.

He also suggested that Move Forward could focus on regulating rather than banning cannabis, by for example upgrading the draft bill on cannabis usage with increased penalties for misuse.

Akradej Chakjinda, leader of the Writing Thailand's Cannabis Future network, said relisting cannabis as a narcotic would enable government officials and law enforcers to exploit users and small businesses.

He added that the benefits would also be limited to large companies with enough capital to produce cannabis-related products.

"Putting cannabis back on the narcotics list before seeking measures to control its use is contradictory.”

Instead, existing laws and regulations to control the use of cannabis should be enforced properly, he said.

He added that his network will submit a petition signed by 1 million people opposed to cannabis’s relisting as a narcotic to the public health minister.