Thailand’s new government is moving ahead to pass new legisalation banning cannabis for recreational use in a major reversal 18 months after the country became the first in Asia to decriminalize the plant.
The relaxed laws saw a lucrative cannabis industry catering to locals and foreigners alike boom across the Southeast Asian nation, but a new conservative coalition government came to power late last year vowing to tighten the rules and only allow medical use.
A draft bill was released on Tuesday by Thailand’s health ministry outlining hefty fines or prison sentences of up to one year for offenders – or both.
why are people still so backwards about this? what’s the point? everyone uses caffeine and/or alcohol and that’s fine but weed is horrible and bad? just blatantly denying reality
In most places, there’s money in enforcement, and power in disenfranchisement.
I don’t know what Thailand-specific motives might be in play here, if any.
And tobacco.
I think the idea is that they can’t fight a war on those drugs since they’re already there, but they can still win against the others by keeping them out.
It helps when you have relatively tight borders and your neighbours agree.
I smoked weed in Thailand as a 15 year old in like 2006 lol. It’s always been there and always will be.
I’ve also smoked hash in Saudi Arabia. I have yet to find a single country in which I could not find cannabis in if around for more than a week or two. Literally no one has ever won the war on drugs or even come close.
I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but it’s not as easy to find as it is in Canada, for instance…I’d imagine, lol
And weed is one thing, but it might be harder to find other drugs. Thailand might be different, but I’m thinking of places like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc…not non-existent, but harder to find than in some other places.
Honestly, it’s a nuisance for many.
I wouldn’t want to live close to a dispensary, there’s almost always a “stench”. Don’t get me wrong I like to partake, but I definitely understand why it’s stigmatized. It fricken stinks and the stereotype of high kids doing dumb shit is real as well. I think they just need better control
Edit: damn guys I like weed and Thailand was on my list of countries to visit because they legalized. I’m just not surprised… They’re the only country in APAC to have legalized and there are countries around then giving out death penalties.
High kids’ dumb shit will always pale in comparison to drunk kids’ dumb shit and it’s not even close.
It’s still dumb shit
Edit: agreed drunk kids do way worse stuff, but I’ve done some seriously stupid shit while high, just drawing from personal experience
There’s dumb people and some of them drink or smoke.
Absolutely, unless they’re also drinking - but then weed may also be mitigating some of alcohol’s worst effects. Alcohol reduces inhibition, while weed often causes anxiety. Alcohol increases propensity for violent behavior, while weed usually calms you down.
It’s also important to point out, it’s still illegal for kids to be doing either if the things in the first place.
It definitely is still illegal, so I think they just need some better controls. I think good for any new legal substance, it takes a bit for things to be put in place
Kids are capable of extremely dumb shit even when sober.
Definitely true, but even in the US the more conservative population and older population are pretty against the substance. I’d say they’re coming around to it in the long legal states, but it’s still a drug that you smoke. It’s not unlike cigarettes, but cigarettes don’t get compared to the smell of skunk
Everyone I know that isn’t a cigarette or weed smoker agrees that cigarettes smell much worse. It also lingers longer.
Really? I mean I agree, but I definitely think people are used to cigarette smoke. But weed leaves that dank skunk smell behind. I’m surprised everyone you know prefers the weed smell
I didn’t say everyone I know. I said everyone I know that doesn’t smoke. Obviously the weed smokers think weed smells better and the cig smokers think that cigs smell better.
Smoke weed in a room with the window open there will be no smell the next day. Not the same for cigarettes.
Definitely agree that cigarette smell lingers and weed smell dissapates, but I also believe weed smell, in the short term covers a larger area and smells worse. Maybe I’m bias since I like the smell of cigarettes (but I also like the smell of weed).
Totally fair haha I’m definitely biased towards the weed smell.
I pass by dispensarys all the time and never notice a smell. The only places that smell are those that allow smoking on premise – which with our state’s indoor smoking laws are very rare.
It’s no different than tobacco, really.
Agreed, the nice locations do really well. But, I’m not sure if it’s just people smoking nearby or what, but there’s 2 dispensaries in Seattle that always stink. One I commute past in my car, and I can smell it from inside my vehicle from a few hundred feet away no matter what direction I’m coming from.
I personally think weed, in the short term has a stronger and further reaching smell. But that’s my own opinion. I’m sad Thailand is reversing, I wanted to visit and eat street food in Bangkok while high
Most really good quality weed doesn’t smell much. Also you use a lot less generally.
Hmmm I kind of found that good quality was stickier and smellier. I’m kind of numb to the smell though, since I smoke. I’ll get some nicer stuff and see what my roommate thinks
Could just be the kind of stuff I usually smoke. Its the kind of stuff where a single smallish bud would last a normal person more than a month, and I go through it in less than a week. Well I used to anyway, before moving to boringville
Make smoking around others outside or in public without other’s consent illegal (i.e. you can complain to police if you don’t like the smell), and introduce a rule you can only smoke on licensed premises (with smoking rooms) or at home.
That’s what some places have done with tobacco smoking. It is basically harassment or assault in my view to have people consume your second hand smoke and smells.
Edibles on the outer hand, or if you create flavored vapes that don’t smell much or travel far in the air, all good.
Lack of creativity among conservatives is never surprising.
Also it’s already illegal for kids to do weed, smoke or drink.
I agree with you. Problem for Thailand is(last I checked) they’re the only country in APAC that legalized fully. I think it’s stigmatized since all those countries are so strict. Last I remember Indonesia had a potential death penalty for having 1kg of weed.
People are okay with drug use as long as it’s drugs they use.
You even see it among pot smokers towards nicotine and alcohol.
No, not really.
His whole statement is correct, I’ve seen it time and time again.
Your comment didn’t even elaborate which part you were disagreeing with?
I’m not either of those guys, but in my experience it has nothing to do with their drug of choice and more to do with the social tolerances of the overall group. Outside the good bars in my town all three types associate freely.
The notion that pot smokers all look down on users of other drugs is ridiculous.
Not all, but definitely a common theme. Heavy drinkers judge smokers. Cigarette smokers judge weed smokers and vice versa.
There’s also a lot of people who do all and have no problem, absolutely. But I’ve seen angst against other drug users in groups of drug users completely straight faced, unaware of the irony, plenty of times.
Angst lmao, it’s about harm reduction.
If I assume you are asking, instead of making a statement. Then i am not able to answer since i seem to be unable to see any comments on this post.
Maybe some moderator had a bad day, as only this world news is like that while the whole rest of lemmy.world works fine. Would be nice if i got any… anything about it. Seems harsh.
I mean, a little bit. I had to quit weed for a while job and so I was having a glass of wine at a party and a few people made judgemental comments about how I’m “drinking again”.
Similarly, now that I can smoke again, and as the only one in my extended social circle who can roll a joint that burns properly, I’ll ask the person who brought the gear if they want me to roll joints, spliffs, or a few of each, and how strong, and again there will be one or two people who say “I can’t believe people cut their weed with the tobacco, that’s disgusting”
But at the same time, those judgy friends would never campaign for alcohol and tobacco to be completely criminalised. They just think weed is much better.
That said, a few of us were pretty happy to see the 100% vape ban coming into Victoria, not so much from the drug side of it, but I’m sick of seeing “disposable” vapes everywhere and seeing the parking lot bins catch fire almost every day at work because people chuck them out and the batteries explode.
Having experienced some of life, and having seen what can happen with things like meth coke fentanyl tranq etc., I can see why commenters in this thread might think pot smokers think they’re better than others when they hear things like “weed and shrooms only.” Those other things do sound worse. I can’t imagine wanting to try them tbh.
Totes fine with people smoking pot, provided said pot is odorless.
And I’d be fine with the neighbors cooking up a smelly fish meal if they could just make that food odorless.
But obviously they can’t and that makes no sense, so instead I am a normal human being and just deal with a smell that is not to my preference since it’s completely subjective and can’t hurt me.
You need to eat. You don’t need to smoke. Weed stinks like nothing else. Try again.
But you don’t NEED to eat fish/seafood, which I find repulsive, and in my world that’s all that matters. Also, I hope you dont use the perfume, cologne, or deodorant I don’t like, because that should also be illegal… because I don’t like it. I also don’t like cigarettes or sage, so if you use that, straight to jail.
People aren’t walking around smelling like fish they ate 12 hours ago. I can’t smell someone’s cologne from two cars ahead of me.
Pot smokers aren’t heating up their weed in the staff lunchroom or endangering entire ecosystems because people smoke it too much. Face it, your opinion is wack.
I visited NY in March. Our hotel was in Times Square. It sucked.
https://nypost.com/2023/09/01/nycs-disgusting-pot-stench-is-keeping-tourists-away/
I got on the train as soon as I could and went anywhere else. Every time I came home for the night it was so effing bad.
I visited Boston in October. I couldn’t stand everyone’s fishy breath. It sucks smelling so much seafood on people. Why can’t I just visit the ocean without such a horrible stench following me? It sucked.
I flew back home as soon as my vacation ended. Everyone’s. Mouth. Reeked. Of. Fish.
https://www.atlanticfish.com/october-is-national-seafood-month/
But why can’t they make something that smells delicious though like an Indian curry or fried Swiss cheese and eat that instead of nasty-ass fish?
God I would love it if pot smelled like the McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese. Maybe AI can figure it out.
I don’t understand how people hate it. Weed is better-smelling than tobacco by a mile and then some. Tobacco smoke irritates your lungs when you smell it, something that doesn’t happen with weed unless you have some medical condition.
I can stand smoke. It’s annoying, but it’s fine. Pot is smells like a No. 2 pencil eraser factory on fire. It’s nowhere close to the same.
Lol! Fair enough. I think it smells a bit like skunk spray, but I didn’t mind the skunk smell from the few times that I smelled it from afar.
I can take social situations in private places like someone’s home, or even public places like parks. I expect people to enjoy themselves.
Me and a couple friends went to Texas Roadhouse and were seated in a section that had a ~1 foot partition between booths. A little later a couple of guys were seated opposite of the partition, in a booth running parallel to ours. We were nauseated by the smell and asked to be reseated. They ironically sat us in a corner booth decorated with Willie Nelson pictures on the walls and table, with a neon sign that read Willie’s Corner. We felt bad for the couple that were shortly seated in that same booth. We had a really good meal.
I fully support someone’s freedom to do what they want as long as they’re not bothering others. Reeking of weed while we spend upwards to 50 bucks for a meal (prices are nuts now) is unacceptable.
That’s fair. Although, tbh with you, I would’ve liked to be sitting right next to them. 😂
The pot will be odorless when the cigarette is.
That’s fine. Smoking is banned in most public places.
Thai people just didn’t want to be thought of as drug users. That’s it.