What can Australia learn from Thailand a year after cannabis was decriminalised?

Stone Age, iStoned, High Got You, and Wake N' Bake are just a handful of the endless weed puns popping up on shop signs across Thailand. 

Over the past year, thousands of marijuana businesses have flooded the streets since the country decriminalised cannabis to help boost the tourism, agriculture and wellness industries.

"There's just so much available ... There's 10 shops opening up every day," Col, a British expat living in the northern city of Chiang Mai, told the ABC. 

"Every time we drive down the street, there's another one. It's gone crazy. I never knew there could be that many names!"

Col and his partner Jules — who have lived in Chiang Mai for 13 years — were surprised when in June last year, Thailand became the first country in Asia to take marijuana off the banned narcotics list. 

Before the new rules took effect, possession of cannabis could have landed you in prison for up to 15 years.

The government's intention was to allow people to grow, sell and use the plant for medicinal purposes — not promote it for recreational use.

But from the outset, the rules were foggy.

"It wasn't clear where you can smoke it, how much can you buy, what kind of things you can buy. There was a lot of confusion." Jules said.

Promised legislation has failed to pass through parliament, leaving the country without an umbrella law to regulate the plant's use.

While smoking weed in public is illegal, recreational use at home is unregulated.

So far, more than 1 million people have registered to grow the plant, and there are about 9,000 legally registered sellers. 

Although there have been benefits generated by a new industry "goldmine",  even cannabis advocates are calling for more rules and regulations. 

Kitty Chopaka, a pro-cannabis activist and owner of Chopaka — a marijuana shop in Bangkok — said the new industry stemmed out of nowhere.

Now, she says the government is left questioning "how do we deal with this?" 

"I would say it is beneficial … but it can also be predatory and damaging," she said.

This article was originally published by the ABC, read the full article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-09/thailand-cannabis-decriminalisation-weed-industry-australia-laws/102562846