Thailand legalizes marijuana.... kind of

Thailand has become the first Asian nation to legalize the use of marijuana and this has a lot of people excited. Personally, I don't care for the stuff so this has no impact on me but I've always found the fact that it is illegal around the world while alcohol is not, to be really strange and stupid.

Even though this will not benefit me in any way I celebrate the fact that it is happening.

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Technically it is only legal for medical not recreational use but much like when we saw it medically legalized in the United States you don't have to work very hard in order to qualify for a "medical need" to get it. This is a bold step for Thailand who has some pretty strange laws on the books such as prostitution being illegal when it is extremely evident that the world's oldest profession is literally everywhere in this country.

It isn't yet clear about the specifics of the law though and I found it amusing that the officials who made the plant legal today are advising people to be wary of lighting up until things are defined such as where it is ok and how much of it a person is allowed to have. At the moment the ruling just seems to be some sort of blanket, "it's legal now" and not much else has been defined.

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So far it appears as though anyone can grow it just if they feel like it but since the entire idea behind this appears to be economic growth there is always a very real chance that corporations will end up getting the lion's share of the profits here, as is tradition in Thailand.

There have been warnings about how it still isn't legal to smoke in public and this is one thing the authorities have been very clear about. Light up a joint in public and you can be subjected to a 25,000 Baht fine or even be put in prison for it. This isn't because of the drug and is vaguely described as a "public nuisance" which I think is kind of similar to a "drunk in public" type offense and well, that's fair enough. I think you would have to work pretty hard to end up in jail for this infraction... something along the lines of you are smoking a joint, refuse to put it out, and then assault a police officer type situation.

Speaking of prison, this is one thing that I really enjoyed about today's ruling. There were over 4000 people that will be released from prison for marijuana-related offenses as the new ruling is being applied retroactively and I am extremely surprised to see the government have so much compassion and operate in such a logical manner. I don't know if this was done in Canada and the parts of USA that legalized its use but to me this just makes sense. It isn't illegal anymore so the people doing time for it should be released in my mind.

They are also returning any seized property, including the marijuana, to people who were put in jail for these offenses. Well done Thailand! I have to say I am genuinely impressed.

This could end up being another reason for people to want to travel here if they can get the sort of support and have high-quality strains of it.. This might not be the correct wording but what can I say? I'm not a fan of smoking pot so I don't know what the hell I am talking about.

I do enjoy edibles from time to time but unfortunately this new law doesn't extend to that. Edibles and oils are still illegal unless they contain less than 0.2% THC and according to my friends, this is an extremely low percentage that you wouldn't even feel anything if you took it.

It remains to be seen what the long-term effect of this will be. I think it is a step in the right direction that basically the entire population is on board with. The only reason I need in order to think this is long overdue is that booze has always been legal and therefore it doesn't make sense that weed wouldn't be.