Govt insists it will relist plant as narcotic by year-end

The government will put cannabis back on the narcotics list by the end of this year, according to Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin.

“[PM Srettha Thavisin] has given the ministry until the end of this year to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic,” he said. “The sooner, the better.”

Asked whether he agreed with a Narcotics Control Board decision to decriminalise cannabis when he served as justice minister in the previous government, Mr Somsak said that he was part of the coalition government at the time and he had insufficient information to oppose it.

Mr Somsak said that the Public Health Ministry will issue a ministerial regulation governing the planting and storage of cannabis. However, he will hold talks with operators of cannabis businesses and pro-cannabis groups to gather their feedback before the regulation is issued, he said.

The government is facing increasing pressure from pro-cannabis groups who are threatening to rally at the Ministry of Public Health headquarters in Bangkok from Thursday until it can justify why cannabis deserves to be reclassified.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said yesterday that the plan to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic will have to be studied and assessed by several health committees before any action can be taken.

However, Mr Anutin, leader of the coalition partner Bhumjaithai Party, who advocated for the decriminalisation of cannabis, said that he will accept the outcome if those panels favour reclassification. “We will accept the decision. The issue will not have any bearing on Bhumjaithai’s collaboration with the coalition government. Don’t politicise the cannabis issue.”

Cannabis liberalisation was one of the key pledges made by Bhumjaithai ahead of the 2019 election.

The plant was later delisted from Category 5 of the narcotics law, except for extracts containing more than 0.2% THC, the compound that creates the psychoactive effect, in an announcement in the Royal Gazette in June 2022.

Some doctors, academics and activists have issued an open letter to back the government’s plan to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic. They said decriminalisation creates adverse impacts in the long term.