Thailand made pot legal two years ago. That could change soon

by JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Two years after Thailand made pot legal, the country appears set to crack down on its freewheeling drug market with a ban on “recreational” use. Legal cannabis has fueled Thailand’s tourism and farming trades and spawned thousands of neon green shops, but it’s facing public backlash over perceptions that under-regulation has made the drug available to kids and caused crime. The Health Minister Chonlanan Srikaew said last week that he had recommended a draft bill to the Cabinet that would ban recreational cannabis use while allowing medical. In the 2023 election campaign, all major parties, including the one that originally pushed decriminalization through, promised to limit cannabis to medical use.