Thailand makes major backflip just 18 months after making weed legal

Just 18 months after a surprising and historic move to make recreational weed legal, a major nation has made a stunning backflip.

Weed is being banned in Thailand in a major backflip just 18 months after becoming the first nation in Asia to legalise the drug for recreational use.

The nation’s current and more easy-going laws on the drug saw the creation of a lucrative industry and a tourism boom, with weed shops popping up all over towns and cities.

However, a new conservative coalition government that came to power late last year is now vowing to tighten the rules.

Medical use will still be allowed under a draft bill released on Tuesday by Thailand’s health ministry.

The bill shows there would be hefty fines or even prison sentences of up to one year for those getting stoned without a medical reason.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in September his new government will “rectify” laws on cannabis within the next six months. He said it was “a big problem for Thailand”.

The proposed new laws will also ban advertising and marketing campaigns for cannabis products.

Marijuana dispensary workers grind cannabis flowers to make joints to sell to customers at the Thai High Convention in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Picture: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

In 2022, the Thai Food and Drug Administration officially removed marijuana and hemp from the Category 5 narcotics list, a move that made Thailand the first country in Asia to decriminalise marijuana for medical and industrial use.

Surrounding nations in South-East Asia have far stricter rules when it comes to bud.

Singapore — which maintains the death penalty for trafficking drugs — has gone as far as to warn its residents they could prosecuted upon their return for smoking a joint legally while travelling overseas.

While Thailand has more relaxed marijuana laws, at least for the time being, there are still restrictions.

For example, food products can only contain 0.2 per cent concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive compound that produces the drug’s “high”.

And all marijuana sales are technically supposed to be for medical use rather than recreational, but there is no requirement for buyers to provide evidence like a doctor’s note.

There have also been instances of tourists getting caught out.

A Bali customs official told Jakarta-based ABC journalist Anne Barker last year that marijuana was making its way into Indonesia from Thailand — predominantly in the form of dried flowers in tourists’ bags.

Thailand’s new government wants to ban weed again. Picture: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

They were also being caught with other derivatives like liquid for vaping.

“We remind foreigners entering Indonesia to be aware of the laws, even if it’s for medical use, marijuana won’t be tolerated,” the official said.

There had been arrests foreigners from Russia, Britain, the US, China and Brazil.

It is understood tourists have been arriving with the drug in their bags after forgetting it was there or thinking it was okay because they purchased it legally.

Meanwhile, a push to legalise recreational cannabis use in Australia has been opposed by the country’s peak medical body, which argues it will send the wrong message about potential social and health-related harms.

In its submission to the Greens’ Legalising Cannabis Bill, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said legalising recreational use would increase adverse health impacts and place further demand on the healthcare system.

It cited concerns about increased availability to young people despite the Bill intending to restrict the sale of cannabis products to people over the age of 18.

“The AMA believes that if cannabis was legalised for recreational purposes, it would indicate to the public that cannabis use is not harmful,” the submission reads.

“Allowing people to grow up to six plants in their home may normalise frequent cannabis use and will make large quantities of cannabis even more accessible to young people.”