Many went from behind bars to back in a resurgent, legal business within hours. Those convicted of illegal cultivation even had their seized equipment-ultraviolet lights, grow tunnels, irrigation apparatus-returned to them.
Looking to benefit are some 4,200 inmates in prison for cannabis-related offenses who became eligible for release the same day decriminalization came into force. (Critics also point out that Anutin’s brother is on the board of a company that produces hemp, although Anutin denies any impropriety.) Since decriminalization, Anutin has given away 1 million cannabis plants to households in well-rehearsed publicity stunts. In truth, it was simply the most popular of several policy gimmicks his upstart party flirted with before Thailand’s 2019 general election. “More people will understand it over time.”Īnutin’s pitch was that cannabis could become a valuable cash crop to help alleviate poverty among rural farmers. “Today, society is for the most part knowledgeable, understanding and ready to consume cannabis the right way,” Anutin said Aug. In that vacuum, cannabis became legal by default. On June 9, the six-month deadline for agreeing on cannabis regulations expired essentially because Anutin kept stalling and, according to sources, threatened to bring down the government if committee members went around him. This was chiefly because a flagship policy of Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party-a key ruling coalition partner-was to decriminalize the plant. However, the interministerial body that oversees drug policy couldn’t decide on the specific limits to be placed on cannabis. in a bid to lower the prison population by getting addicts out of cells and into treatment. Last December, Thailand unveiled progressive new narcotics legislation after consultation with international bodies like the U.N. Ironically, that draconian legacy inadvertently lies behind the sweeping decriminalization. Thailand has the largest prison population among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-some 285,000 people-and more than 80% of inmates are incarcerated on drug-related charges. It’s a stunning U-turn for a country known for some of the world’s harshest drug laws. Read More: What Thailand’s Legalization of Marijuana Means for Southeast Asia’s War on Drugs (In the U.S., cannabis is federally prohibited but can be consumed recreationally in 19 states and the District of Columbia.) Today, tourists strolling the Thai capital have their pick of dozens of shops and stalls emblazoned with neon marijuana leaves selling glistening buds of white widow, Hindu kush, and lemon skunk. On June 9, Thailand became the first country in Asia-and only the third in the world, after Canada and Uruguay-to decriminalize cannabis nationwide. Saccharine marijuana smoke was never far away, nor were tales of hapless foreigners hauled off to the city’s infamously fetid jail, dubbed the “Bangkok Hilton,” for smoking a mere joint.īut times are changing on the Khao San Road. Flip-flopped arrivals are met with a sensory cacophony: blistering sunshine, the pungent waft of red chili hitting smoldering woks, and, for the more reckless, a smorgasbord of mind-tweaking drink and drugs procured down back allies and dimly lit bars. Bangkok’s Khao San Road has been the heady gateway to Southeast Asia for generations of backpackers.