Thailand blazes ahead with push to legalise medical marijuana use

BANGKOK: Thailand is rolling out plans to legalise medical marijuana, an official told AFP yesterday, as the country hopes to cash in on a multi-billion dollar industry with a product its supporters hail as some of the world’s best.

Several nations have embraced the use of medicinal cannabis, including Canada, Australia, Israel, and more than half the states in the US. But Thailand would be the first country in Asia to do so, tapping into a market that US-based Grand View Research has estimated could reach US$55.8 billion by 2025.

A draft bill to permit its limited use has been sent to the military junta’s National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

“We have submitted the bill to the speaker,” Jet Sirathraanon, chairman of the NLA’s standing committee of public health, told AFP, adding that it will have its first reading in the junta’s rubberstamp parliament in less than one month.

The cannabis would be “for medication only, not for recreation,” he added.

Marijuana remains illegal in Thailand, with stiff penalties for drug trafficking even though the country remains a key regional transit hub and producer of narcotics.

But the idea of medical marijuana has long been more acceptable to broad swathes of society in the Buddhist-majority country and junta officials have previously mooted the need to reform drug laws. — AFP