Thai citizens concerned about marijuana legislation

A recent poll ran by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University in Thailand has shown that there is concern amongst citizens about the new marijuana legislation that has come into force.

Once a country with strict narcotic laws, Thailand has effectively decriminalised marijuana.

The Thai government introduced the new regulations in an effort to boost agriculture and tourism within the nation.

Since the new regulations have come into effect, Thai citizens are allowed to grow their own cannabis plants as well as being allowed to sell the crop.

According to the government the legalisation of marijuana is for medicinal purposes rather than recreational.

However, the recent study by the Thai based university has shown that the bulk of citizens are worried about the new regulations.

A whopping 70% of the populace have described themselves as “worried” by the new law with 37% being “fairly worried” and 33% being “very worried”.

The main concerns according to the study stem from a lack of knowledge of how to use marijuana and the fear that the new regulations could cause an increase in the younger generations using the drug.

Despite these fears there are some possible positives from the marijuana legislation according to responses.

These include feed back from 75% of respondents for using marijuana for medicinal purposes. Almost half of respondents mentioned that marijuana could add economic value.

For a nation that is used to stringent narcotic laws it remains to be seen how long it will take for perceptions amongst the populace to change on the new legislation.