High Thaimes

Thailand decriminalized marijuana on Thursday. The law is confusing, and the messaging around it has been contradictory. But in spite of that, I view the change as a giant step in the right direction for the country and continent, medicinally, economically, and culturally.

Thailand makes marijuana legal

The decision by the Food and Drug Administration to remove all of the plant from the category of narcotic drugs makes Thailand the first nation in Asia to decriminalize marijuana for medical and industrial use.

The bottom line, as I understand it, is this: Don't smoke pot in public, and avoid extracts containing more than 0.2 percent THC, and you'll be fine. Other than that, anyone registered as a medical marijuana user is free to grow, buy, and use cannabis at home. And it's very easy, and typically free, to register.

The Meaning of The 9th of June: Legalization of Cannabis in Thailand

As the new law took effect on Thursday, my wife registered online, along with around 100,000 other Thais, for a license to grow marijuana at our house. Other members of her family did the same. We are even talking about starting a small family-run dispensary together. And this makes me very happy.

Adding to my good vibes is the fact that some retroactive justice is also being served.

Ganja convicts set for release

More than 4,000 inmates charged or convicted in connection with cannabis-related offences will be released from jail when the regulation removing cannabis and hemp from the list of narcotics takes effect on June 9, according to the Corrections Department.

Cannabis detainees to be released with law change

Cannabis-related offences that resulted in court cases and detention prior to June 9 will be cancelled, with any bond payments to be returned. People incarcerated in related trials serving jail time due to an inability to pay fines will also be released, according to the agency.

The FDA's decision to remove cannabis from Thailand's list of banned narcotics was announced in February. My interest was aroused in May, after I read this New York Times piece.

Thailand will give away 1 million weed plants

Thailand has said it plans to give away a million cannabis plants to households across the nation, in an effort to generate enthusiasm for a law taking effect next month that will allow residents to grow weed for their personal medicinal use or as a small-scale commercial enterprise.

The project, announced by the country’s health minister this week, is the latest move in Thailand’s effort to position itself as a leader in Asia’s nascent cannabis industry, coming as the United States and other major economies are liberalizing laws on marijuana amid growing evidence of its medical benefits.

Industry analysts say the moves could help lure more international visitors to Thailand and strengthen medical tourism, in a country where a sprawling tourism sector accounted for as much as a fifth of the pre-Covid economy.

Nine paragraphs into that story, I learned about Carl K. Linn’s Cannabis in Thailand substack (linked a bit higher up in this post and below), which I’ve found to be an incredibly useful and fascinating resource. While it precedes this week’s law change by about a month, I highly recommend reading Linn’s “Thai Weed Is Medicine” post for some super-interesting historical context and a thought-provoking vision for the future of cannabis in Thailand and Asia.

Thai Weed is Medicine

For the record, I haven’t smoked pot in many years. It was a big part of my youth, for sure. But it’s only in the last few years that my interest in cannabis (and psychedelics—a topic for another time, perhaps) has grown. This coincides with my increased focus on breathwork, meditation, yoga, and cold therapy.

The breathwork, meditation, and yoga I do every day. The cold therapy is something I’m still building towards. Literally. We’re building an ice bath area behind our house and have ordered the ice bath that will soon occupy it.

The ice bath area behind our house.

The ice bath we’re having built.

What’s the cannabis connection? I see each of these things—breath, meditation, movement, cold, cannabis—as effective medicines (and I would say nutrients) for the mind, body, and spirit. That is backed by science (which is obviously not to say that all science backs it; there are of course disagreements and variables and unknowns that complicate things). But the proof is in the pudding, and in my experience, the pudding is high in effective medicines and nutrients for the mind, body, and spirit.

The jury is still out on CBD oil. But since that’s been a legal cannabis extract in Thailand since 2019—again, under the unfortunate condition that the THC level stay below 0.2 percent—I decided to give it a go recently. I can’t say I noticed any effect. But the oil I tried has no THC, and I hope the day will come when I can legally experiment with an oil that contains a higher dose.

The door to that day was opened this week. And I’m optimistic that Thailand will eventually walk through it.

Beyond the obvious economic benefits it would have (people prefer to buy products that work, I’ve observed), there could also be significant health benefits.

Thinking about the future of cannabis in the country with some excitement last night, I watched this short VICE documentary from December 2021, before the change in the law was announced. There’s an ominous tone throughout the doc, starting with the title, “Inside Thailand's Underground Cannabis Industry.” (It is VICE, after all.) But watching the video now, seeing the positive effects cannabis has had on the people featured in it, knowing that sensible and tangible improvements are coming to their lives, and feeling reasonably confident that more changes for the better are afoot, left me feeling joyous and hopeful. Happy to call this land of confusion my home.