Legalisation of household cannabis for limited use
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has drafted a bill to legalise the household cultivation and consumption of cannabis and its recreational use in some locations.
FDA secretary-general Paisarn Dunkum said on Monday (Jan 24) that his administration had drafted the bill in line with the Public Health Ministry’s resolution to exclude cannabis from the narcotics list.
He said the FDA’s bill would allow people to grow cannabis for their own consumption on the condition that they must report the cultivation to their respective provincial administrative organisations. Household consumption would be for medical purposes only.
Those who wish to be involved in commercial cultivation, import, export, sales and advertisements of cannabis will need FDA’s approval.
Regarding the recreational use of cannabis, Dr Paisarn said it could be done in some locations that had yet to be specified.
“Of course, we won’t go to the stage of cannabis cafés, but there are different models for its recreational use in other countries. We’ll select the best one that suits our social context,” the FDA secretary-general said.
A committee of the Public Health Ministry chaired by its permanent secretary would work out the specifications of venues for its recreational use, he added.
The bill set a jail term of three years and/or a fine of B30,000 for wrongdoers and there would be a public hearing on the new bill next month, Dr Paisarn said.
Monday’s news came after the Public Health Ministry confirmed on Jan 19 a proposal to totally delist cannabis from the narcotics list, paving the way for households to grow the plant legally.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the ministry is taking another crucial step in decriminalising the plant now that a sub-committee on narcotic substances has revised the narcotics list on which cannabis no longer appears as a Category 5 narcotic substance.
The proposal will be forwarded to the Narcotics Control Board chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam for further approval. The revised narcotic list will take effect after he endorses it.
Anutin said it is the ministry’s attempt to streamline and facilitate the process although growers are still required to seek permission if they make cannabis products or make cannabis extracts which must have less than 0.2% of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by weight.
“What we’re doing is to allow people to make the most use of cannabis, especially patients who rely on cannabisbased treatment,” he said.
Legalising cannabis to allow households to grow up to six plants was a key campaign pledge of the Bhumjaithai Party during the 2019 general election. The party has been criticised for failing to live up to its promise despite overseeing the Public Health Ministry for three years.