30-04-2023, 09:02 AM
Thailand, where until last June you could be jailed for five years just for possessing marijuana, up to 15 years for producing it; where other drug offences get the death penalty. The pace of change has been breathtaking.
"It is messy, but then this is Thailand, and without this sudden liberalisation I don't think it would have happened at all," says Kitty Chopaka, founder of Elevated Estate, a company that offers advice on the marijuana industry, and has been a part of the parliamentary committee trying to get the new regulations passed.
But this is not the kind of liberalisation long-term campaigners like her dreamed of.
"We need regulation. Spelling out what you can and cannot do," Ms Chopaka says. "It is causing a lot of confusion, a lot of people not knowing what they can do, what they can put money behind."
"It is messy, but then this is Thailand, and without this sudden liberalisation I don't think it would have happened at all," says Kitty Chopaka, founder of Elevated Estate, a company that offers advice on the marijuana industry, and has been a part of the parliamentary committee trying to get the new regulations passed.
But this is not the kind of liberalisation long-term campaigners like her dreamed of.
"We need regulation. Spelling out what you can and cannot do," Ms Chopaka says. "It is causing a lot of confusion, a lot of people not knowing what they can do, what they can put money behind."