More than 8,000 convicted people and suspects will be cleared of legal charges when kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is removed from the narcotics list on Aug 24, Office of Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Wichai Chaimongkol said. Kratom (Migragyna speciosa) is a tropical evergreen plant with opioid properties and some stimulant-like effects. It had long been used in tradtional medicine but was declared a Class 5 narcotic under the Narcotics Act of 1976. The law was amended in 2021 to remove kratom from the list. The amendment was published in the Royal Gazette on May 26 and the removal of kratom from the narcotics list is effective from Aug 24.

Learn how lessening the barriers for small farmers while raising them for large companies can help to steer legal cannabis markets in a more sustainable and equitable direction based on principles of community empowerment, social justice, fair(er) trade and sustainable development.

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The Drug Committee in Thailand approved three draft legislations for amnesty. If these drafts become law, even possessors of cannabis, who are not patients or research units, will be pardoned. “We have already passed the draft regulations, but there are still many steps left. The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] will have to put these drafts through public hearings and gather opinions for further review,” FDA secretary-general Tares Krassanairawiwong said. The approved drafts included three announcements designed to grant amnesty to government agencies, private firms, community enterprises, practitioners of traditional Thai medicine, research organisations, patients and everybody else who use and possess cannabis.

A new announcement categorising flowers or buds of the cannabis plant as "controlled herbs" is a temporary measure to curb the proliferation of recreational cannabis use in Thailand while the deliberation of the bill on cannabis and hemp continues to drag on, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said. This latest announcement is only one of the many small legal measures being used to control the recreational use of cannabis that has increased rapidly following the decriminalisation of cannabis in June. The problem of the increasing recreational use of cannabis continues while Thailand waits for the cannabis and hemp bill -- an all-in-one legal mechanism to ensure better control of cannabis use in the country and limit it to medicinal purposes -- to be passed into law.

As cannabis companies eye expansion in European and South American markets, Asia is poised to be a new frontier for some major Canadian pot players. Despite being the world’s most populous continent, it is estimated that Asia’s cannabis usage is about two per cent, or 85.5 million people, according to London-based cannabis data provider Prohibition Partners. However, several Asian countries are on the cusp of embracing medical cannabis and the continent could see its marijuana market grow to as much as US$5.8 billion by 2024, Prohibition Partners said in a recent report. That’s caught the attention of some Canadian cannabis players including Canopy Growth Corp.

After being listed as an illegal narcotic for many decades, Thais will finally be allowed to use and own Mitragyna speciosa, also known as kratom, as traditional medicine by August this year. On May 28, an announcement was made in the Royal Gazettewhich effectively removed the plant from the list of narcotics. As new laws take effect 90 days after their publication in the Gazette, kratom use and possession will be effectively decriminalised on Aug 24. Prior to its decriminalisation, kratom was categorised as a Class 5 Narcotic substance under the Narcotics Act, which made consuming, cultivating and possessing any part of the plant illegal.

Developing a medical cannabis industry is among top policy priorities for Thailand's new government, according to a document released before the formal announcement. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former junta leader who heads a civilian government following March elections, is due to set out the policies for debate in the national assembly. Developing the medical cannabis industry was a key demand of the Bhumjaithai party, one of the biggest parties in Prayuth's 19-party coalition. "The study and technological development of marijuana, hemp, and other medicinal herbs should be sped up for the medical industry to create economic opportunity and income for the people," the policy document said.

Thailand made headlines all over the world last December when it became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize cannabis for medical use and research purposes, sparking a race to cash in on what could someday become the country's main cash crop. Full legalization was a core policy of the Bhumjaithai party's campaign in the March 24 election, which helped it win the fifth most seats in Thailand's new parliament. The government has also made the development of the industrial potential of the drug one of its priorities, saying its study and development "should be sped up for the medical industry to create economic opportunity and income for the people."

Since the Thai government legalised cannabis on June 9, 2022 by removing the plant from the list of prohibited narcotics, the tourism sector was expected to reap a windfall as Thailand was the first country in Asia to allow hemp consumption for certain purposes, other than recreational use. A month after decriminalisation, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) published rules and regulations concerning cannabis and hemp use in the country in a bid to inform and warn tourists about prohibitions against smoking in public. The bid followed a number of reports about foreign tourists who possessed or consumed cannabis without knowing they could face harsh punishment.

The Public Health Ministry in Thailand has completed the first draft of the Cannabis-Hemp Act and said it will not reclassify cannabis as a narcotic, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said. Dr Cholnan said the new law is based on amendments to the first draft. It has been updated to address various public concerns or loopholes that allow people to use cannabis for recreational purposes, he added. The core of the law still defines cannabis as a controlled herb, while any extract that contains more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) remains listed as a narcotic.

The decriminalisation of kratom, long used as a herbal remedy but which some health regulators around the world have criticised as potentially unsafe, was welcomed by human rights advocates. Kratom is part of the coffee family, used for centuries in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea for its pain-relieving and mildly stimulating effects. It has become increasingly popular in the United States. The change to Thai law means "the general public will be able to consume and sell kratom legally", government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said, while more than 1,000 prisoners convicted of offences related to the drug will be freed. (See also: Thailand legalizes kratom, popular plant-based painkiller)

Growing ganja has provided new hope for villagers in Thailand to diversify their income. Since the government legalised the use of cannabis for medicinal and research purposes in Feb 2019, ganja has become a highly-regarded cash crop. The Kasikorn Research Centre forecasts that the market value of medical cannabis in Thailand will reach anywhere between 3.6 billion to 7.2 billion baht this year. At present, individuals are not allowed to farm cannabis and hemp unless they register themselves as a community enterprise. Each group must have at least seven members and must have contact with a local hospital, including small-scale Tambon Health Promotion Hospitals (THPH).

Despite repeated calls by doctors to suspend the decriminalisation of ganja, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hinted at the opposite – further legalising the plant for recreational use. Anutin, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party which championed its free ganja use campaign during the previous election, said a new cannabis bill may be amended to allow recreational use if the people accept it and know how to use it safely. “In Thailand for the time being, we don’t advocate recreational use, but that will not be definite, it can be amended when people have full understanding on how to use it correctly and it might come, but not now,” Anutin said during the event. He also said the cannabis bill, which is being vetted by a special House committee, will be sent back to the House this week for the second and third readings.

Kratom will soon be removed from the narcotics list and cultivated as a new cash crop, after the House passed an amendment to the 1979 Narcotics Act. The House voted 319 to five to pass the amendment and 326 to five to endorse a 90-day transition. As such it is now due to take effect 90 days after it is published in the Royal Gazette. Prior to the House votes, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin told MPs the amendment was aimed at legalising consumption of kratom. Mixing its juices with other narcotic substances, a popular pastime among some youths, will still be illegal, however. Legalising kratom will also change public perception of the plant and people who consume it as a herbal remedy, he said.

The Transnational Institute (TNI) has always believed in the need to find global answers to global problems, been a strong defender of multilateralism and an advocate of a well-functioning United Nations which stands as the guarantor of universal human rights. On the drugs question, our position is straightforward: drug control should respect human rights. An accessible but comprehensive primer on why TNI believes that human rights must be at the heart of any debate on drug control.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by eight prospective parties on forming a coalition government in Thailand could be bad news for advocates of the current freer cannabis policy. Under the 23-point agreement, the Move Forward Party-led bloc has agreed to reinstate the plant as a narcotic drug under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Health and pass new laws supporting just certain beneficial uses while regulating all other use, cultivation, import and export of the plant. The move marks a reversal of the cannabis policy which has become divisive and politicised due to the absence of an umbrella law to govern its use despite the introduction of regulations to prevent abuse, particularly by children.

Police in Myanmar this week announced the largest synthetic drug seizure on record in Southeast Asia. Between February and April, security forces seized more than 200 million tablets of methamphetamine, 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of crystal meth, 300 kilograms of heroin and 3,750 kilograms of liquid 3-methylfentanyl (3MF). "The amount of 3MF is truly incredible. 3MF is 10 times stronger than fentanyl, which is 100 times stronger than morphine. That makes it equivalent to a few thousand tons of morphine — or several billion doses. That has to be for global supply, not just regional," Myanmar expert Richard Horsey told DW.

Thailand legalized the growing of marijuana and its consumption in food and drinks on June 9 and removed cannabis from its list of banned narcotics. The Southeast Asian country hoped the move would boost its agriculture and tourism industry and allow the plant to be used for medical purposes. But lawmakers have failed to come to an agreement on how to regulate and control the new thriving industry. "We are against legalizing weed in an uncontrolled manner that has been happening since the health minister delisted cannabis as a narcotic without regulation that can really be enforced," the leader of the opposition Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat said, during the bill's second reading. Uncertainty is expected to continue...

25th December of 2018 was a historical day for cannabis enthusiasts in Thailand. The (interim) Parliament voted, 166-to-0, to pass new amendments to the country’s Narcotics Act. These legislative changes will allow for the cultivation, importation/exportation, distribution, possession and use of cannabis for medical and research purposes in the Kingdom. The move is regarded by many as a big leap forward, especially as the country still retains a criminal penalty (one year of imprisonment) for the simple use of illicit drugs, including cannabis.

Over the past decade, methamphetamine use has grown more popular in Myanmar, Thailand and Southern China. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who use methamphetamine, this briefing sheds light on the importance of promoting an environment that reinforces, rather than undermines, the ability of people who use methamphetamine to regulate their drug use, preserve their health and adopt safer practices.

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