BANGKOK, Thailand – The Thai Cabinet today approved a bill amending the country’s cannabis law, introducing stricter controls that will transform the rapidly expanding retail sector and reinforce the plant’s medical-only status. Under the new measures, cannabis retail outlets whose licences expire will be converted into cannabis clinics supervised by medical professionals, and the purchase of cannabis must be strictly for medical purposes only.

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Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said the bill seeks to exert tighter controls across the entire supply chain, from farms, which must now be registered, to the quality control of the cannabis itself along with its extracts and flowers. He emphasised that penalties for violations under the new law will be clearer and significantly heavier than those currently in force under the existing cannabis legislation, signalling a decisive shift away from the permissive framework that followed the plant’s decriminalisation.

The minister stressed repeatedly that cannabis is intended for medical purposes only and not for recreation, drawing a clear line between therapeutic use and the recreational market that has grown substantially in recent years. As for the thousands of outlets that can now be found all over the country, Pattana stated that their licences will expire in 2028 at the latest, and they will then have to either close or transform into licensed cannabis clinics operating under medical supervision. There are currently more than 10,000 cannabis outlets nationwide, a figure that has raised concerns among health authorities about unregulated access and quality standards.

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Pattana added that teams of health officials will be dispatched to inspect these outlets, with particular attention to tourist provinces where cannabis shops have proliferated, as part of efforts to tighten controls and ensure compliance with the incoming regulations. The amendments represent the government’s most significant move yet to rein in the cannabis industry and reassert medical oversight over a substance whose liberalisation has been closely watched across the region.

-Thailand News (TN)