hailand’s move to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic threatens to trigger street protests and class-action suits by owners of thousands of dispensaries which sprung across the country in the wake of decriminalization two years ago. on Wednesday will also push the cannabis trade underground, said Rattapon Sanrak, owner of Bangkok-based dispensary Highland Cafe. Writing Thailand’s Cannabis Future, an advocacy group, said it will hold a protest against the move in Bangkok on May 16.
“We’re all doing everything by the book but then suddenly the book is going to change,” Rattapon said. “We’re gearing up to protest and preparing to file lawsuits in the event it happens.” Thailand’s nascent cannabis industry has battled legal uncertainties since inception as lawmakers couldn’t agree on how to regulate it. The first attempt to pass a bill to control cannabis use last year was blocked in parliament as part of political jockeying ahead of the election. The most recent attempt under the Srettha government to outlaw recreational use and tighten licensing rules on planting, sales, exports and imports of cannabis was stalled by bureaucratic process.
Once the health ministry wraps up the process of classifying cannabis as a category five drug, its possession could land one a jail sentence of up to 15 years and a maximum fine of 1.5 million baht .