What You Can and Cannot Do Now Thailand’s Eased Cannabis Laws

Marijuana is now legal, but not for recreational use

Cannabis plants on display at the Ganja Expo in Buriram, Thailand in March 2021.

Photographer: Luke Duggleby/Bloomberg
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Thailand is set to decriminalize marijuana starting Thursday, the first such move in Asia, seeking to grab a slice of a growing market for marijuana-infused food and medicinal cannabis treatments.

It will no longer be a crime to grow and trade marijuana and hemp products, a move aimed at bolstering the country’s crucial agriculture and tourism sectors. However, prospects for the Thai cannabis trade will be limited by the country’s ban on recreational use and the production of anything with more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound that gives users a “high” sensation.