In Thailand today, cannabis is being targeted as just another drug that ruins lives and users are being warned that there is a plan to use law enforcement to make cannabis very hard to get. The person making these claims wants the power to take your cannabis away. Ms Paetongtarn explained what she did not like and then explained how she would make it illegal.

“I don’t want cannabis to be easily available,”

She then unveiled Pheu Thai’s policies to solve the narcotics problem: take serious legal action against drug producers and dealers;…

At a speech over the weekend in Buri Ram, health minister Anutin’s home province, where she has little chance of winning.

This story of fear mongering and emotional appeals to child safety shows how easy it is to tap into false narratives in the belief that it could lead to political gain;. This is the legacy of international propaganda campaigns from the 70s up to the present day.

More rhetoric from Ms Paetongtarn‘s campaign:

“We will be able to put our policies into practice only when we can form the core of the government with a landslide win.”

The Peu Thai Party

What is most noteworthy in this case of anti-cannabis rhetoric is what there is NOT. There are no suggestions that polls say this is what the people want. There are no arguments against the liberalization regime. Just an unthinking lumping in of cannabis with all narcotics. Will legal cannabis in Thailand will be called into question every time a few politicians decide to drum up old prejudices and fears? Thai cannabis is just now showing itself to be the core of a whole new industry — with wealth generation and wealth transfer at the center of a sector which piques tourists interests and provides a source of income for thousands of locals across the country at a time when the economy continues to suffer from the ravages of Covid lockdowns.