Thailand’s budding marijuana industry faces backlash on sidelines of Apec

NEAR the grand conference halls in central Bangkok where Asian leaders were meeting, a plethora of marijuana shops – the Thai capital’s newest tourist draw – were bustling despite a controversy that threatens the growing sector.

Since Thailand decriminalised cannabis this year shops selling homegrown and imported strains, pre-rolled joints and gummies sprang up rapidly.

New cafes with names such as Magicleaf and High Society are located just minutes from the meetings of the Asia-pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

But the proliferation of such businesses has sparked a backlash from some politicians and doctors who say the change was pushed through without regulation and are now calling for tougher rules, or even a new ban.

A cannabis regulation bill to govern cultivation, sale, and consumption has been delayed in parliament, causing confusion over just aspects will be legal.

“We’re in a vacuum,” one senator, Somchai Sawangkarn, told a domestic broadcaster, adding that announcements by the health ministry had not curbed recreational use.

South-east Asia has strict laws prohibiting the sale and use of most drugs, but Thailand became a major exception in June, when it dropped cannabis from its list of narcotics.

The move was spearheaded by health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who framed marijuana as a cash crop for farmers and championed its medical use, but recreational use exploded.