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A breast cancer patient smokes a joint in Bangkok after marijuana was decriminalized last month. Across Asia, cannabis policies remain broadly restrictive, with some inconsistencies and loopholes. © Reuters
Asia Insight

Smoke signals: Thailand blazes trail for cannabis in wary Asia
Recreational use still far-off prospect as taboos persist from ASEAN to Japan

FRANCESCA REGALADO, Nikkei staff writerJuly 5, 2022 06:00 JST

BANGKOK -- The monks of Wat Jantrawas, a Buddhist temple in Thailand's Phetchaburi Province, sat in a circle and passed around a small dark bottle. One by one they stirred a few drops of cannabis oil into their coffee cups, reminiscing about their youth when the plant, known in Thai as ganja, was commonplace.

"In their free time, they used ganja when they talked with each other," said the temple's 71-year-old abbot. As a young man, he had used the plant much like MSG to enhance his cooking.

Before Thailand strengthened its narcotics law in 1979, the monks say blue collar laborers regularly consumed cannabis after work. It was also used by artists and musicians to inspire creativity. The evidence can be seen on the walls of Wat Jantrawas and nearby temples. Murals dating back to the reign of King Rama V in the late 1800s depict monks, nobles, soldiers and ordinary people using cannabis to treat maladies, or smoking it with bamboo bongs. Until 1914, it was even an export, shipped in sacks bearing the garuda, the royal standard.

"It wasn't illegal; it was just medicine," the abbot said.

Cannabis could reclaim its place in Thai life, since the government last month removed it from the list of banned narcotics. But the factors that made Thailand first in Asia to decriminalize marijuana may not be easily replicated in its neighbors.



The push began three years ago, when a populist party leader secured a cabinet position overseeing drug policy. "When we decided that the policy of cannabis would be put in the campaign program back in 2019, our purpose was only to make sure that the farmers would have another option of agricultural products," Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Nikkei Asia.

His Bhumjaithai Party holds 59 seats in parliament and is a coalition partner of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's Palang Pracharath Party. Its power base is in Thailand's underdeveloped northeast, where farmers have struggled with the low price of rice.

"People always put a stigma on this product as a narcotic," Anutin said. "But we looked from a different angle and we found that it could be a plant that not only cures people's illness, but also open another opportunity for farmers."

Under Anutin's influence, the Health Ministry excluded cannabis from a narcotics list adopted on June 9. On the same day, more than 3,000 prisoners with marijuana-related convictions were released.


Monks at Wat Jantrawas, a Buddhist temple in Thailand's Phetchaburi Province, stir cannabis oil into their coffee. (Photo by Francesca Regalado)

Anutin hopes the change will create a new $10 billion to $15 billion market for Thailand. Residents can now grow up to six plants at home and make their own medicinal products for personal use, domestic sale or export. To be registered with the authorities for sale, such products cannot contain more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient that produces the marijuana high.

Cannabidiol or CBD, the chemical that lends cannabis its medicinal properties, is less controlled. Studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in treating nausea in cancer patients, seizures from epilepsy and chronic pain as a substitute for opiates, according to the World Health Organization.

"I use medical cannabis regularly," Anutin told Nikkei Asia, citing weed-infused lotions, soaps and patches that claim to help with sleep. "It depends on how people develop their products. When it looks very professional, I could not help but reach into my pocket and purchase for my own use."

Opponents raise the risk of underage use, addiction, and lung and cognitive impairment. After the policy change, the government scrambled to warn against public smoking and sales to anyone under 20, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

But if cannabis begins to deliver on Anutin's economic promise, his Bhumjaithai Party could thrive in the next general election, which must be called by next year.

"The feedback from the farmers is that my party has 50% more popularity in the northeastern part of Thailand," Anutin said. "If you ask why [opponents] are against this policy, they will say this is a deadly policy ... I have a certain amount of people who can make a better living."

Whether in Thailand or in the 43 countries and 37 U.S. states that have eased restrictions, marijuana legalization is an incremental process. In Thailand it started with medical legalization in 2018, followed by decriminalization this June. Recreational use is still illegal in Thailand, and Anutin insisted that the kingdom will not be a "marijuana wonderland" for foreign tourists.



Elsewhere, some of Asia's strictest cannabis bans can be found in countries affected by the colonial opium trade or other brushes with the West. Singapore's late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wanted to remove the scourge of opium and create a drug-free state, with zero tolerance even for marijuana.

"There is well-founded and incontrovertible research that establishes several short-term and long-term adverse effects associated with cannabis use, including impairments to one's respiratory and cognitive functions," a disappointed Singaporean government stated in 2020, when the United Nations removed marijuana from its list of the most tightly controlled narcotics.

Cannabis supporters in the city-state are relegated to a quiet minority. Singaporeans found to have consumed it, even abroad, face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 20,000 Singapore dollars ($14,000). Trafficking can result in the death penalty. Even the opposition Workers' Party, which clashes with the ruling People's Action Party on many issues, shares the same firm stance against marijuana.

Hong Kong, once a key hub for British opium, has tightened prohibitions as mainland China's influence grows. The territory's Security Bureau recently proposed banning products containing cannabidiol, the chemical that lends cannabis its medicinal properties. Shops selling CBD oil, food and drinks have mushroomed in the city, with cafes and restaurants marketing its purported wellness and stress-relief benefits. But the bureau claims that a third of CBD products sold in Hong Kong contain traces of THC, the banned ingredient.


Tourists line up to buy cannabis from a truck in Bangkok on June 13. The government insists decriminalization will not make the country a "marijuana wonderland" and that recreational use is still banned. © Reuters

"In recent years, there has been an uptake of consumption of cannabis. To prevent future long-term abuse, we will be taking a hard line against all dangerous drugs and cannabis," Commissioner for Narcotics Kesson Lee told lawmakers in June. The proposed ban would exempt medical prescriptions for CBD.

Such selective permits are also technically available in the Philippines, which gained notoriety for former President Rodrigo Duterte's violent war on drugs. His drug enforcement czar in 2019 said that "in general, the law dictates that any variety and derivative from marijuana, including CBD, is prohibited," but conceded that CBD is not addictive.

Two of Duterte's allies, former president and House speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former deputy speaker Luis "LRay" Villafuerte, have admitted to using marijuana medically. Villafuerte authored a bill to fully legalize medical marijuana without requiring permits, which are rarely granted.

"We have proof of patients applying, but only one has been granted since 1992," said Henrie Enaje, a lawyer with CannaLegalPH, a nonprofit that extends legal aid to Filipino cannabis users.



Legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis, he said, would ensure a stable and fairly priced pharmaceutical-grade supply for patients and research institutions. "All of these are coming from the black market, so quality and supply are patchy," said Enaje.

Thailand, he said, "is proof of concept."

Rowena Pilapil was among a hundred people who gathered at Manila's heroes monument in late June to advocate for medical legalization. Pilapil has resorted to the black market to source cannabis oil for her 12-year-old son, saying it treats his epilepsy without the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

She spends between 10,000 pesos and 15,000 pesos ($192 to $288) for 100 milliliters, but swears it is worth it. "The fact that he was able to recognize me and say, 'Mama, I love you,' was already a big thing for me," Pilapil said.


Rowena Pilapil says she spends around $190 to $290 to buy 100 milliliters of cannabis oil on the Philippine black market, to ease the side effects of her son's epilepsy medication. (Photo by Cliff Venzon)

The black market commands a steep price for a plant that grows wild in Southeast Asia's warm climes. Although trafficking is punishable by death, farms are rampant in Indonesia's Aceh Province, where marijuana is traditionally used for seasoning in local cuisines. An Acehnese member of parliament has called for legalization to make marijuana an export commodity for the province.

Cambodia's Kiri Vong district, on the border with Vietnam, similarly cultivates cannabis on a large scale. Locals persist despite police warnings and periodic crackdowns because prices remain relatively high, with a kilogram of dried leaves fetching between $35 and $40.

Tourists and expatriates have long been able to buy marijuana easily in Phnom Penh, as endemic corruption means lax and arbitrary enforcement. Tuk-tuk drivers hawk weed while bars sell joints and some restaurants advertise "happy pizzas."

"It's always been pretty easy here to get what you need," said one long-term expat. "It's not particularly secret."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has found that most people who use marijuana do not go on to abuse "harder" drugs. In Japan, an expert committee recently convened to look into officially allowing marijuana-based medicines is also tasked with gauging whether it would fuel substance abuse. Medical legalization would bring Japan, where cannabis cultivation dates back to ancient times, in line with its fellow Group of Seven countries.

But Japan appears to be pulling in opposite directions simultaneously. There is also talk of explicitly prohibiting cannabis use by law. The current Cannabis Control Law, a legacy of the postwar U.S. Occupation, bans the growing and possession of cannabis, although CBD can be sold as long as it contains no THC.


A police helicopter hovers over a marijuana field in Indonesia's Aceh Province, during an operation to destroy the illegal plants in 2016. © Antara Foto via Reuters

Decriminalization raises issues beyond whether cannabis is a "gateway drug."

As Thailand brings previously underground farms into the light, it should enshrine labor protections, according to Kelly Beker, executive director of the Cannabis Education Guild, which aims to promote understanding of the drug.

"Cambodian, Laotian and Burmese immigrants are at risk of exploitation. It is exactly like that in seafood, agriculture, manufacturing and construction in Thailand," Beker said. "There's a risk that those bad practices will be legitimized."

After decriminalizing cannabis, the Thai government could further develop its marijuana laws with labor audits and fair trade stamps on cannabis products, she suggested.

Much of Asia appears to be in no rush to go as far as Thailand, let alone allow recreational use. And for some advocates of change, the stakes are especially high.

Back in the Philippines, where the war on drugs has also targeted cannabis users -- sometimes in entrapment operations known as tokhang -- proponents of medical use face a stigma and legal risks.

Pilapil began speaking publicly about her son's cannabis treatment in 2018, despite the danger.

"I realized that there are many people like me, so I decided to come out," she said. "It's our right to access alternative medicine, and we should not beg for that right."

Additional reporting by Cliff Venzon in Manila, Dylan Loh in Singapore, Pak Yiu in Hong Kong, Erwida Maulia in Jakarta, Shaun Turton in Phnom Penh and Shoichiro Taguchi in Tokyo.