I’m fine with that. Prisons in the U.S. should be emptied on state level of any marijuana dealing charges. just imo
Agree. We’re probably heading toward a situation where weed is legal in all of North America.
if the federales legalize, then a big game-changer. Then empty federal prisons of all non-killing/domestic abuse prisoners related to marijuana
And it continues…
Thank you, I know it’s a year later, but that was the dumbest at least honest thing I’ve seen on the internet today.
That’s been going on for months now in some legal states.
The better states are putting vaccinated names into a lottery pool with big payouts. Ka-ching.
Seems like not for much longer…
I think Thailand is just politically unstable and is really more of an absolute monarchy than a democracy. The military stage coups there every so often. Saying anything bad about the king is punished very harshly (probably worse than saying bad things about xi in china).
Yes, but they have generally done a good job of keeping their tourism industry stable and growing. Legalizing cannabis around the time of the post-pandemic reopening seemed like a step in that direction, giving people a reason to choose them over other emerging tropical vacation destinations around SE Asia and elsewhere. Better regulating the industry would probably be wise, but totally recriminalizing seems like a backwards move for them.
If I wanted to smoke pot, I’ll go to the EU.
Sure, but that’s a much longer and more expensive flight for us (and more expensive everything else, for that matter) and doesn’t have tropical weather. Many of the tourists Thailand is drawing are people from Europe and North America who are used to legal or decriminalized recreational use at home who like enjoying the same on their tropical holiday without having to worry about being arrested.
Can’t blame Thailand for doing this. Some people can handle recreational drugs, most people cannot however, and it ends up harming them more than helping them over time.
Unpopular opinion here I imagine, but the proliferation of weed is truly net negative for society as a whole in the long term – already enough out there to waste our time, dreams, and money on. 
Plenty of people can’t handle the recreational drug called alcohol, but I don’t see Thailand closing its bars anytime soon.
Sure I don’t disagree. Many places are already so close to hedonistic critical mass though. It adds up. Alcohol is already much too entrenched into the fabric of most cultures to be expelled or even more moderated (see Prohibition in the US, etc).
This is absolutely true for recreational drugs, including alcohol, overall. Doing a line of cocaine for one’s birthday (not that I would) is probably fine, but I understand a cocaine habit is highly destructive. I’ve heard things like crack cocaine are even worse.
Same could be said of alcohol, and to be fair there is more research and anecdotal experience for alcohol, but it looks to be far worse than marijuana
Lol, beat me to it
Reducing access to a relatively less harmful drug won’t make Thailand any less hedonistic. Better to encourage a shift to marijuana
Anyways, in Thailand it has a lot to do with the mafia like powers that run the country. The recent announcement is just talk. The same government has said more than once that they would stop the sale of marijuana and it still hasn’t happened.
More likely, there will be increased regulation (which is good), rather than full prohibition (which is silly, there has been easy access to marijuanain Thailand for thousands of years, they haven’t been able to stop it before and there’s no way they can stop it now).
Edit:
September, 2023, will not allow recreational marijuana within the next six months
6 months later… the same announcement
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/asia/thailand-cannabis-reverse-proposed-laws-intl-hnk/index.html
So now they’re saying after 4 months that they will have results within 7 months.
Ok, it probably won’t be the same wild west market it is now (which is good), but nothing is a more likely outcome than full prohibition. Don’t forget, this PM actually came in second place, and is only in charge of the country because the elites who run the country (and no doubt benefit from recriminalization) didn’t want the winner in power (the winner being pro marijuana). There are charges linked to bribery that may see the PM forced from power before 7 months is up…
I know plenty of people that smoke pot in Taiwan. They don’t see themselves getting caught.
So do I, but that doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t.
I rather not be in the tropics.
I’m so sorry you had to read and respond to a thread about a place you don’t like. I hope someone puts something else on the internet for you soon.