I was really proud of Thailand for being so progressive when around a year ago they decided that there was no reason to criminalize the recreational use of a natural plant. I thought "this country gets it" and this comes from me even though I do not engage in the use of marijuana. The buzz simply isn't what I am looking for. I do occasionally take a puff or two if a joint is floating around the room but I have never actually purchased any of it.
To me it was a wonderful thing for them to fully legalize the use of weed because I am one of those people that sees folks get into all sorts of trouble because of alcohol but I have never seen anyone get into a bad situation from smoking weed. Stoned people have no desire to drive fast (or really drive at all) nor do they ever think it is a great idea to get into a fight with strangers. They are chill and they are funny.
For me, weed mostly makes me hungry and anti-social and that is why I don't usually engage in it. I do think that it should be left up to the person if they want to use it though. If booze is going to be available literally everywhere, why shouldn't a plant that accomplishes a far less deadly version of the same thing be allowed?
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It all seemed to good to be true though and there were times that I couldn't believe that this country would be the first one to be sensible in all of Asia. You see, it's not like it was difficult to acquire before it was legal. The people who wanted to get weed had zero difficulty in doing so but with the legalization the only thing that really changed was the access to regularly good quality weed and from the people that I know that are avid smokers, the cannabis shops were able to basically prescribe you exactly what you wanted based on the kind of buzz you wanted. If you wanted something to make you sleepy they had it. If you wanted something that didn't make you sleepy but kept you focuses almost like ADHD medicine, they had that as well. They also had something called CBD oil (I think) that helped people with anxiety and even seizures.
I was very impressed with Thailand moving forward with this even though once it was legal the Thais went absolutely wild with it and now weed shops are basically everywhere.
It was so disappointing to me that the newly elected government is now taking steps to once again ban the recreational use of it by the end of the year.
The usual BS got spouted out by politicians when they said things like this
"The misuse of cannabis has a negative impact on Thai children," he added. "In the long run it could lead to other drugs."
Isn't it just so predictable that politicians the world over always use "children" when talking about anything. War negatively affects children, pollution affects children, Covid affects children etc. There have been a huge amount of studies done and all of them, unless rigged, come to the conclusion that weed is not the "gateway drug" that politicians are always claiming it is. You know what is a gateway drug? Alcohol is. Of the people I know that moved up to harder drugs like coke or MDMA, they always began with alcohol. People that smoke a lot of weed tend to shy away from these things while the people that drink heavily seem to be drawn to it.
The new government makes all sorts of claims about why they are going to ban the recreational use by the end of the year but here is what I really think is happening.
Increased marijuana use is resulting in decreased alcohol consumption. The alcohol manufacturers therefore get their friends in the government to make up BS reasons why any competition is "bad." This is evident in Thailand because micro-breweries are STILL mostly illegal in Thailand and have to be manufactured over the border in Laos or Cambodia and then shipped back into Thailand. This is because the local beer manufacturers were lose customers when they have competition and by having massive import taxes on these products, they are kept so expensive that people continue to drink Leo, Chang, and Singha.
The people that are charged with protecting the borders of Thailand used to make HUGE amounts of money by allowing certain drug-runners through. There have been countless situations where military and customs officials were discovered to not only NOT be enforcing drug import bans at borders, but they were actually the people that were making it happen. With the legalization of marijuana to be made in Thailand and imported into Thailand, these officials were no longer getting their large amounts of cartel handouts. I'm quite sure they are connected to politicians as well since the money always runs uphill.
Basically, once they ban the recreational use of marijuana, nothing is going to change other than the fact that you wont be able to freely walk into a store and get it. It will go back into the hands of the criminals and this is going to make it no longer safe or reliable as far as quality is concerned. The users will have to return to that horrible compressed weed that is smuggled in in bricks because it is more economical to transport it that way.
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You've probably seen this before. I know I have and I have actually never purchased marijuana legal or otherwise at any point in my life. The people I know that are regular smokers hate this crap because separating it is much more difficult. It is also quite difficult to determine the quality of it because the buds have been squished to the point where they are unrecognizable from stems and seeds in a bag.
The are proposing a fine of 60,000 Thai Baht for anyone caught smoking weed without a license. This is far more money than the average Thai person makes in several months and I know that this will lead to. It will lead to police accepting bribe money on the spot to fill up their own wallets rather than actually enforcing the law.
This is a damn shame Thailand. For once it looked like you were going to be sensible about something but it only took a year for you to completely change course.
This will change nothing. Those poor little children are still going to be able to easily get their hands on marijuana if they simply look for it. As it is now it is highly illegal for anyone under 18 to purchase marijuana at shops... now they will just return to purchasing it in the schoolyard.
Urgh! This isn't even my country but it makes me so upset.