PM wants to outlaw cannabis, two years after it was decriminalized

The prime minister of Thailand, the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis two years ago, said yesterday that he wants to outlaw the drug again amid concerns that the lack of regulation had made it available to children and increased crimes.

Decriminalization was spearheaded by the Bhumjaithai Party, whose stronghold is in the impoverished northeast where it promised farmers cannabis would be a new cash crop.

Cannabis advocates and entrepreneurs have opposed a radical rollback, which they claimed would be damaging to the economy. Legal cannabis has fueled Thailand’s tourism and farming sectors and spawned thousands of cannabis retails ranging from shops, trucks to market stalls all over the country. MDT/AP