National —
A group of physicians and opposition political parties has petitioned the Thai Administrative Court to ban the use of marijuana other than for strict medical purposes, citing the lack of regulations to protect people’s security, especially children.
Smith Srison, a member of the Medical Council of Thailand, and the opposition Pheu Thai Party, Move Forward Party, and Seri Ruam Thai Party jointly filed a petition with the Administrative Court, seeking to revoke the Public Health Ministry’s directive, which removed marijuana from the type five narcotic list, issued on February 8, 2022.
The opposing parties accused the Public Health Ministry chaired by Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the Bhumjai Thai Party, and the Narcotics Control Board of decriminalizing the use of marijuana without having any regulations to protect people, which is against the government’s policy that vows to:
“Solve drug problems with strict enforcement of the law and to eliminate drug production sites and drug networks…”
Smith, who is a member of the Medical Council, said he does not intend to protest the use of marijuana, but it must be for medical purposes only. He added marijuana for medical use can still be legal without the Public Health Ministry’s directive.
Smith stated that the government should have had regulations that could totally forbid the use of marijuana among youth before they legalized it because if not, it could cause a long-term problem.
The opposition Move Forward Party said the present regulations cannot truly bar children and young people from using marijuana for recreational purposes, adding the regulations cannot concretely be enforced.
The Move Forward concluded they want marijuana to be strictly used for medical purposes as it should have been in the first place.
The Cannabis and Hemp Bill is expected to enter parliamentary deliberation soon; however, the coalition partners Democrat Party and Bhuamjai Thai Party are already locking horns about the bill passage.
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