The Thai government will soon introduce a bill to ban the recreational use of marijuana, said the Health Minister today after the government decriminalized the drug in 2022. Marijuana was removed from the list of prohibited narcotics in June 2022 under the previous government, including the pro-legalization Bhumjaithai party. 

Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said the bill banning the recreational use of marijuana would be proposed at the Cabinet meeting next week. "The bill will amend existing laws to allow marijuana use for health and medical purposes only. Recreational use is considered illegal," he told reporters. 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who took office last August, has consistently opposed the use of the drug for recreation, stating that it is only allowed for medical purposes. 

There was new public pressure over the weekend after attendees of a British rock group Coldplay concert in Bangkok complained on social media that "the entire concert smelled like marijuana.

Source: SCMP