Thailand Moves to Ban Recreational Marijuana With Draft Bill

A customer lights up a joint inside a cannabis dispensary in Bangkok.Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
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Thailand’s health ministry will seek the approval of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s cabinet next week for a draft bill that will ban the recreational use of cannabis, Agence France Presse reportedBloomberg Terminal Tuesday, citing Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew.

Limiting cannabis for medical and health-related use was proposed by the government last month, effectively a U-turn from a landmark legislation that took effect in the middle of 2022 under the previous administration. Thailand became the first in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, enabling thousands of marijuana and weed-related shops to open nationwide, many of them in tourist areas and business districts.