Why Thailand will distribute 1 million cannabis plants to households

With about a third of its labour force engaged in agriculture, Thailand has been trying to promote cannabis as a cash crop for some time now. In fact, in 2018, it became the first country in the Southeast Asian region to legalise the use of cannabis for medical use.

• The Thai government has announced plans to distribute a million cannabis plants to households across the nation soon, when most of the legal restrictions on cultivating weed at home will be lifted.
• In 2018, it became the first country in the Southeast Asian region to legalise the use of cannabis for medical use.

About the new law:

• The country’s new rule will permit people to grow cannabis plants at home after informing their local government.
• However, the cannabis cultivated at home must be of medical grade.
• Extracted contents will remain illegal if it contains more than 0.2 per cent of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the part of the plant that is responsible for getting people intoxicated.
• Large-scale enterprises will still be required to seek permission from the country’s Food and Drug Administration.

Which countries permit the use of cannabis?

• In 2018, Canada became the first G20 country to legalise the recreational use of cannabis. Meanwhile, Uruguay legalised the recreational use of marijuana for all adults above the age of 18 in 2013. Here, you can purchase weed at pharmacies.
• Several European countries — including the Netherlands, Spain and the Czech Republic — permit smoking marijuana in public places.
• In the US, consumption of marijuana is legal in at least 20 states, including Washington DC, New York and California.

Cannabis:

• Cannabis is a generic term used to denote the several psychoactive preparations of the plant Cannabis sativa.
• The major psychoactive constituent in cannabis is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• Compounds which are structurally similar to THC are referred to as cannabinoids.