A Thai court yesterday accepted a petition that seeks to revoke the ministerial order that decriminalized cannabis use in Thailand.
The Central Administrative Court on Monday afternoon accepted a lawsuit by the Medical Council and MPs from opposition political parties who want to revoke an order by the Public Health Ministry that effectively removed cannabis from Thailand’s Category 5 narcotics list on June 9.
The petition is led by Smith Srisont of the Medical Council and other MPs from oppositional political parties such as Move Forward, Pheu Thai, Thai Liberal, Thai People Power, and Prachachat parties.
The date of the ruling has yet to be determined.
Upon the court’s acceptance of the petition, long-time cannabis advocate Chokwan “Kitty” Chopaka announced that she and other dispensary owners would gather at around noon today at the Government House in Bangkok to protest against a decision that might re-criminalize cannabis.
Anyone who shares the same goal is welcome to join, Kitty said.
“Those that do not want their businesses shut down. Those that do not want their investment to go to waste. Those that do not want to hide their cannabis plants again. Those that want to sell cannabis legally. Those that do not want to go back to getting piss tested. Those that want to see cannabis stay legal, come and join us,” Kitty wrote on her social media.
Another group of weed advocates led by Soranut “Beer” Masayavanich, owner of Sukhumweed dispensary, will gather at 2pm tomorrow at the Ministry of Public Health to discuss the upcoming Cannabis Act with health minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
“We aim to create mutual understanding on benefits that cannabis will bring,” Beer’s statement reads. “We insist that decriminalizing cannabis brings benefits to several sectors from tourism and economy to agriculture.”
