Thailand: Will You Soon Need a Medical Prescription to Buy Cannabis?
In what is seen as the latest threat to free recreational use, Thai authorities plan to ask both domestic users and foreigners for medical proof if they want access to legal weed.
Here we go again. New rules for cannabis access in Thailand could soon go in force. Thailand’s Minister of Health, Somsak Thepsutin, intends to introduce new legislation restricting the recreational use of cannabis within weeks. Consumers will have to provide a medical certificate attesting that cannabis is used exclusively for medical purposes.
Thailand’s Lawmakers Want to Make It Clear That Cannabis Consumption Is for Medical Reasons Only
Cannabis has been legal in Thailand since 2022. The announcement is the latest twist in a long and complex process of regulating cannabis consumption since its legalization. Under the new rule proposal, prescriptions will be issued by licensed health professionals, including traditional Thai doctors and general practitioners. Medical certificates may be required to ascertain that the user is suffering from health disorders such as epilepsy, pain, migraine or insomnia.
“I will improve regulations on cannabis use in Thailand. Foreign and Thai cannabis users must have medical certificates,” Mr. Somsak said at a press conference in Bangkok last week, Yahoo News reported. “We’ll order government organizations to keep enforcing the law and not to allow any problems to develop,” Somsak, who is a member of the current ruling party Pheu Thai, told journalists.
Cannabis activists in Thailand believe that the new legislation may result in a significant drop in licensed cannabis shops, but that the big players will still remain on the market.
“I understand what the government is doing, I don’t agree with it,” said cannabis activists Chokwan ‘Kitty’ Chopaka, DW reported. “I feel the ones that are going to be left are the bigger shops, who actually have the war chest and they will serve the tourists, and the locals will probably grow their own, because getting a doctor’s note is going to be too much of an issue,” she said.
Thailand’s cannabis industry has an estimated turnover of around one billion dollars. It is not the first time that the kingdom’s authorities have announced restrictive measures, but they have never taken concrete actions thus far. According to Prasitchai Nunual, Secretary General of the Thai Cannabis Future Network, it would be pointless. “Cannabis is not popular among youth. In fact, the number of smokers has not increased at all, which has caused many shops to shut down,” he said, Reuters reported.
Checks at Thai airports have been stepped up to combat cannabis trafficking, which is on the increase. According to local authorities, it is mainly Britons and Indians who are involved in trafficking activities. An operation led by Thai and British police resulted in the seizure of over two tones of cannabis from air passengers last February. Since July 2024, more than 50 British citizens have been arrested in Thailand on cannabis trafficking charges.
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Stephen Andrews
