① Legalization of marijuana in Thailand
Thailand is the first country in Asia to legalize marijuana. You can even grow it at home. Following the legalization of medical marijuana in 2018, marijuana was removed from the list of narcotics in June last year.
With the legalization of marijuana, marijuana shops have started to appear all over Thailand. The cannabis industry is snowballing.
The Thai government has allowed related tourism products, and you can even get a massage or a spa with marijuana at a five-star hotel. Tourists can easily purchase marijuana at convenience stores and street vendors, including Khao San Road in Bangkok.
Many people visit the stores and easily make purchases.
In Thailand, marijuana is being sold in food, desserts, and perfumes, so there is a risk that you could consume it without knowing. Although its use has been legalized, the amendment of related laws has not been made, so the side effects are not insignificant.
② Serious side effects on children and adolescents
Last December, medical staff at SongkAsiaNewsrsity College of Medicine announced that the number of patients coming to the emergency room complaining of side effects after using marijuana increased from 3% last year to 17% this year.
The Thai Addiction Research Institute announced that the consumption of recreational marijuana by teenagers has doubled since the legalization of marijuana. Thailand did not issue a regulation prohibiting the sale of marijuana to minors when it legalized marijuana.
There are numerous casualties due to marijuana throughout Thailand.
A 51-year-old man who ate food containing marijuana died of heart failure. There have also been accidents where tourists who drank tea containing marijuana ingredients died. In the Nong Bua Lam Phu region, a 14-year-old boy hurt his grandfather with a weapon because he did not give him money to buy marijuana, and he made an extreme choice himself. A 17-year-old youth tried to harm himself after falling into a hallucination after inhaling marijuana.
There was also an accident where children who ate snacks containing marijuana ingredients were hospitalized in groups.
The cookies eaten by the children contained 600mg of THC. It was confirmed that these snacks had not received certification from the Thai Food and Drug Administration and were smuggled into Thailand.
In addition, the damage caused by marijuana has reached a severe situation.
Medical experts have raised concerns about children and adolescents’ health and safety issues. As the problem became severe, the Thai government belatedly stepped in to regulate marijuana. The sale of marijuana to minors and pregnant women is prohibited. If you sell food containing marijuana ingredients, you must indicate warnings about excessive consumption, specific content, etc. In Thailand, marijuana products are classified as illegal drugs only if they contain more than 0.2% of the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
However, even this has limits in enforcement. The Thai government has announced that it prohibits the consumption of recreational marijuana, but the boundary between medical and recreational use is ambiguous.
③ Thailand declares war on drugs
Thai Prime Minister Seta Tawisin said, “Drugs weaken individuals and families, cause violence and harm, and make it difficult to run the country.” Prime Minister Seta visited the scene where over 23 tons of confiscated drugs were burned. Prime Minister Seta Tawisin announced that he would make drug eradication a major national task during his four-year term. A government committee was formed, and Prime Minister Seta Tawisin took the chair.
Currently, drug use is rampant in Thailand and is a social problem.
It is known that 25% of the world’s drugs are produced in the border areas of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. In Thailand, Philophone, etc., are illegal drugs, but marijuana has been excluded from drugs.
The Thai government, which has legalized marijuana, sees products containing more than 0.2% of the hallucinogenic substance THC as subject to regulation.
However, products containing more than 270 times the standard are being sold on the street. It exceeds the standard and is classified as a drug but sold without special regulation. Illegal sales are taking place, and enforcement is not adequately carried out.
On the 23rd, 137 out of ab adequately customers at a club in Thailand showed positive reactions to drugs.
As a result of the surprise crackdown by the special crackdown team under the Ministry of the Interior on the MEM club in the Lamruka area of Pathum Thani Province on the outskirts of Bangkok, they were arrested in droves. Various kinds of drugs were found all over the business place. Even teenagers were entering and exiting.
Despite various illegal drug incidents, there have been claims that marijuana should be designated as a drug, but the Thai government is showing a position to continue allowing marijuana use.
By. Kim Min Jae
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