National —
A group of 45 medical personnel, academics, and citizens filed a petition against the legal marijuana policy backed by the Bhumjai Thai Party.
The group is urging Thai voters not to choose Bhumjai Thai in the upcoming election to protect Thai youth from what they call the detrimental affects of the liberal cannabis policy, citing the plant is now being used widely for recreational purposes versus the original intended purpose of medical use only.
The petitioners blame this trend on the caretaker Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul, for declassifying marijuana as a narcotic on February 8th, 2022, allegedly causing many people to become “addicted” to the plant ever since.
Furthermore, the decision to declassify marijuana as a narcotic without waiting for a 120-day period, as stipulated by the Narcotics Control Board (NCC), which was intended to allow for the implementation of marijuana control laws to be put in place first could be seen as a violation of international drug conventions, according to the group.
This could result in Thailand being suspended from importing morphine, the group warned.
The petitioners also stated that Anutin’s excuse of changing the cannabis laws to support the country’s economy was nonsensical because stimulating the economy was the duty of the Ministry of Industry or the Ministry of Commerce and not the Ministry of Health.
Anutin has not responded to the move as of press time.
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