Thailand legalised cultivating and consuming cannabis this month, reversing a hard-line approach of long prison sentences or even the death penalty for drug offences. Cafés and stalls have been openly selling all kinds of cannabis products, or showing off jars filled with potent marijuana flowers. The minister for public health, Anutin Charnvirakul - architect of the new law - was seen sampling weed-laced curries, and being applauded by farmers who hope it will bring them new sources of income. The new law appears to give Thailand what is perhaps the most liberal approach to marijuana anywhere in the world. For the moment, people can grow and consume as much of the plant as they like, though there are a few limits on how they can market and sell it. (See also: Thousands of cannabis offenders being released, but not all)

Thailand opened its first full-time clinic specialising in traditional and alternative cannabis-based medicine, as part of a move by the government towards developing a medicinal cannabis industry. "This is a pilot clinic, because we cannot produce enough doctors with expertise in cannabis," Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirankul, told reporters at the opening ceremony in Bangkok. Patients will receive treatment free of charge for the first two weeks, he added. Thailand, which has a tradition of using cannabis to relieve pain and fatigue, legalized marijuana for medical use and research in 2017 to boost agricultural income.

Thailand’s new prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, has said his government will “rectify” its cannabis policy and limit its use to medical purposes within six months. Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis after it delisted the marijuana plant as a narcotic last year, leading to a boom of cannabis cafes and weed dispensaries in popular tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya. However, the failure to pass legislation to regulate its use has opened a legal vacuum in the country. Thailand’s new leader, a real estate tycoon who came to power in August, said there has been an agreement among the coalition government about the need to change the law and ban its use for recreation. (See also: Cannabis in Thailand: New PM against recreational use)

Thailand's decriminalisation of cannabis has delighted its fans, alarmed some health experts and has increasingly disappointed farmers who have been undercut by illegal imports, sending a promise of a new bonanza crop up in smoke. Marijuana has also become an election football with the opposition criticising the ruling pro-military coalition in the run-up to May 14 polls for rushing through decriminalisation last year to what they say is the detriment of society, youngsters in particular. Thousands of cannabis shops and businesses have sprung up, especially in Bangkok and tourist spots, since Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to decriminalise the drug.

One year after Thailand decriminalised cannabis, Thailand’s Ganja TV, a Facebook page with 90,000-odd followers, are looking on as rival politicians threaten to make dispensaries and open consumption illegal once more – or at least tightly controlled. At the centre of attention is Pita Limjaroenrat, the prime minister-in-waiting whose Move Forward Party (MPF) scored an upset to come first place in last month’s general elections. While MFP is viewed as the most liberal of Thailand’s political parties, cannabis advocates say it is leading the drive to rein in recreational use, casting a pall over the country’s cannabis industry. Pita says the cannabis boom should be put on pause to curb widespread recreational use until the incoming government can pass a proposed Cannabis Act.

Nearly a year after Thailand decriminalised cannabis amid promises of an economic bonanza, Thai growers and sellers say they are being undercut by illegal imports from the United States that sell for a fraction of the price of homegrown buds. Thailand struck cannabis from its list of banned narcotics in June 2022 after a high-profile campaign by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to establish the kingdom as a global hub for cannabis for medical purposes. But Thailand’s parliament has yet to pass a long-awaited cannabis bill, leaving the regulatory framework for the industry in limbo. The Bhumjathai Party’s big promises have predictably fallen flat, with big money from the US, the Netherlands and Canada dashing hopes of a booming domestic industry, according to veteran cannabis advocate Chokwan “Kitty” Chopaka.

With 33 states now offering some form of legal medical or recreational marijuana, and pot companies expanding their footprints across the country, the cannabis “gold rush” is underway — and it won’t stop anytime soon, says Ben Kovler, founder, chairman and CEO of Green Thumb Industries. “The opportunity in cannabis is here in the U.S.,” Kovler said adding that “the phone rings a lot” as companies in diverse sectors start to field opportunities in the space. “This is where the market is,” he said. “This is a $50 [billion] to $80 billion industry where total market capitalization is still under $15 billion. So it’s a really exciting time, and you can see that the U.S. is where the operators want to be.” (See also: Cannabis CEOs bet on US pot legalisation within a year | Canopy Growth CEO expects to hit $1B in revenue for fiscal year 2020)

Londoners overwhelmingly support the legalisation of cannabis for adult recreational use, according to a poll commissioned by the Evening Standard and the independent think-tank Volteface. Sixty-three per cent of residents in the capital back legalisation and regulation of the class B drug, with just 19 per cent opposing the idea. In the country at large, 47 per cent back legalisation, with 30 per cent against and 23 per cent undecided. Cannabis is the UK’s most widely used illicit drug with an estimated 3 million users. Overall it is a market worth an estimated £2.5 billion, with potential tax revenues of £1 billion, according to the Institute of Economic Affairs. (See also: Legalisation could mean opportunities for investors but disruption for thousands of dealers on London estates)

As you’re probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It’s notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren’t actually new. A minimum age of purchase of 20, regulation of potency, restriction of use to private homes and licensed premises, inclusion of harm-reduction messaging, permission for physical but not online retail, recognition of “social sharing”, permission for home cultivation, no importation of cannabis products, regulated sale of edibles and concentrates, and a ban on advertising and most marketing – these were all clearly laid out in the Cabinet paper in May.

As the legalization of recreational cannabis gains traction across North America, one of the most-debated health concerns is psychosis and cannabis use, particularly for young people. Frustratingly, both sides often resort to cherry picking data or conflating correlation with causation. Anecdotes, not science, often prop up these arguments. We’ve all heard it: “Consuming cannabis can lead to psychosis.” While this is partially true, it reflects only a restricted, conveniently framed piece of the picture. Others dismiss the association completely, which is also not productive to evidence-informed conversation. For the most part, we’re getting the conversation wrong, and doing a disservice to young people, caregivers, people experiencing psychosis, and those at risk. 

Thanks in part to the Netherlands' policy of marijuana decriminalization, there are people living in the Dutch city of Utrecht whose addiction to cannabis prevents them from getting effective treatment for mental illness. According to a September 10 statement from Utrecht Mayor Wolfsen, "There is a group of about eighty people with a chronic psychotic disorder who barely respond to their treatment. A possible explanation for this is their severe dependence [on] cannabis."

The federal law that makes possession of marijuana a crime has its origins in legislation that was passed in an atmosphere of hysteria during the 1930s and that was firmly rooted in prejudices against Mexican immigrants and African-Americans, who were associated with marijuana use at the time. This racially freighted history lives on in current federal policy, which is so driven by myth and propaganda that it is almost impervious to reason.

Trekt Uw Plant (TUP), Belgium’s first cannabis social club was founded in 2006 in Antwerp. Since then, the legal status of these nonprofit, members-only clubs remains unclear. However, with the recent acquittal of a club in Namur, some 50 miles southwest of Brussels, and a possible third acquittal for the oldest club in Antwerp, this could all soon change. The Belgian authorities and police still go after the clubs in most cities, with varying results. Belgian’s cannabis social clubs are based on guidelines dating back to 2005. This guideline uses a lot of words to state that the lowest priority in the prosecution policy is given to the possession of cannabis for personal use by adults.

As state after state has legalized marijuana in one way or another, big names in corporate America have stayed away entirely. Marijuana, after all, is still illegal, according to the federal government. But Microsoft is breaking the corporate taboo on pot by announcing a partnership to begin offering software that tracks marijuana plants from “seed to sale,” as the pot industry puts it. The software is meant to help states that have legalized the medical or recreational use of marijuana keep tabs on sales and commerce, ensuring that they remain in the daylight of legality.

Two years after the presentation of the 2018 CARICOM report “Waiting to Exhale - Safeguarding our future through responsible socio-legal policy on Marijuana” at the CND, this years’ side event the organizers would like to share insights on progress made, regarding the public policies on cannabis and the development of a medical cannabis industry in the Caribbean region.

Cannabis dependence is a disorder primarily experienced by young adults, especially in higher income countries. It has not been shown to increase mortality as opioid and other forms of illicit drug dependence do. Our estimates suggest that cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia is not a major contributor to population-level disease burden.

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Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution of marijuana. Invariably, the more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. This completely undercuts the 1960s idealism which spawned our taste for the uplifting effects of marijuana; however, idealism always plays second fiddle to the realism of money markets. (B.C. cities to ask Ottawa for cut of legal pot revenue)

As the government crawls towards legalization with the appointment of a task force, my tempered enthusiasm has started to wane, replaced by dismay. I see countless interested parties and stakeholders lining up to cash in on cannabis dollars. Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution. The more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. If excluded from the new market, the underground will continue to flourish. If the fallback position is that anyone who does not comply with the rules of the market must be dealt with by the criminal justice system, then we have not achieved legalization.

While state legalization has allowed the cannabis industry to grow – it generated over $10 billion in sales last year and employs more than 211,000 people nationwide — state laws are increasingly unable to overcome hurdles created for the cannabis industry by the federal government. What this means is that while some Americans are making money producing and selling cannabis, other Americans are still being arrested and charged for the exact same activities. In 2017, the nascent industry neared $8 billion in sales, legal states made $745 million in cannabis tax revenue, and 659,700 people were arrested and charged with marijuana-related violations, including possession. (See also: Stop the “green rush”)