The Bhumjaithai Party, which successfully pushed for legalisation and campaigned on the issue in the 2019 elections, has come under fire from the opposition and some of its coalition partners in government.
The opposition Pheu Thai Party, whose leader is a frontrunner to become the next prime minister, said the recreational use of cannabis posed a threat to society, especially young people.
“The party only supports the use of cannabis for medical purposes,” spokesperson Trichada Sritada said.
Satit Wongnongtoey, a lawmaker from the Democrat Party, a Bhumjaithai coalition partner, said the decriminalisation of cannabis without proper legislation was a mistake and vowed to address it after the election. His party only supported its medical use, he said.
Bhumjaithai is, however, planning to submit the same draft Bill to restart the process in the next parliament after the upcoming elections, senior party member Supachai Jaisamut said.
“If there is a cannabis law, we can regulate it 100 per cent,” he said. “But with what we have, we can already regulate it 70 per cent.”