It’s a Good News Day because Thailand just became the first country in Asia to effectively legalise marijuana, basically doing a 180 on its previously tough stance. *Applies for annual leave.*
The Thai government has removed marijuana from its narcotics list and will allow people to not only grow as many plants as they like at home, so long as they register with local authorities, but they can also apply to sell them commercially.
The government will also, ALSO hand out one million plants to households??? For free???
“Cannabis will be as legal as garlic, as legal as basil, as legal as chilli,” cannabis legalisation advocate Kitty Chopaka told the Sydney Morning Herald.
There are a few caveats though. If you’re selling or buying weed extracts it can’t exceed 0.2 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). These products will still be considered illegal. And while it’s legal to sell or buy weed, you can’t be caught high in public. If you are, you’ll face penalties of 25,000 baht ($1000AUD) or three months jail. This is down from the previous 15-year penalty.
Chopaka said this will be difficult to police though.
“I would say at the beginning, it’s going to be a stoner heaven. But eventually it will settle,” she said.
“It has been prohibited for so long you can’t expect people to act like a good citizen in the first week.”
So I guess if you’re smoking, just be chill.
The move to decriminalise weed was intended to boost the tourism industry and yes, I think it just might.
It’s also intended to reduce the number of people in incarceration. Thailand’s Department of Corrections will release more than 4000 prisoners jailed for cannabis-related crimes.
And it’ll just help Thailand residents have a nice time — about half of whom say they’ve tried marijuana in their lives, compared to Australia’s 36 per cent.
I would simply adore to join them in their tropical paradise.
