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A spate of seizures of Thai cannabis in the United Kingdom, Germany, Indonesia and Hong Kong has cast a shadow over the Southeast Asian nation’s decriminalisation of the plant.
Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalise cannabis in 2022, promising a lucrative new cash crop for a market intended strictly for medicinal use.
But four years on, with lawmakers still wrangling over cannabis control legislation, high street dispensaries have proliferated for recreational sale, while growers hit by rock-bottom prices amid a supply glut have turned to illegal export markets willing to buy in bulk.
Following a wave of arrests and seizures traced back to Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has warned the plant could be re-criminalised if stalled legislation fails to curb its misuse.
We need to figure out what we should do to prevent other countries from blaming Thailand
“No matter how strict our measures are, if people can still smuggle drugs out, we need to go back and reassess our approach,” Anutin told reporters on Sunday.