Thailand has moved one step closer toward being the first Asian nation to decriminalize marijuana, after Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed a measure officially removing cannabis from a list of controlled drugs, reports AP News.

The delisting will mean all parts of cannabis, including flowers and seeds, may be used in Thailand. However, extracted content will remain illegal if it contains more than 0.2 per cent of THC, the report said.
At the signing ceremony, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he hoped to set out a “new history for cannabis” in Thailand and remove the stigma around it. “Cannabis actually has plenty of medical benefits, not different from other herbs, and we are trying our best to make the Thai people enjoy both medical and economic benefits from it,” Anutin said on 8 February.
However, the production, sale and possession of cannabis will remain partially regulated, meaning recreational use of marijuana is not yet legal. The ministry’s stated policy is to promote the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and to build an industry around derived products.
In 2020, Thailand became the first Asian country to allow the production and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes under strict controls.
The delisting will take effect 120 days after its published in the government gazette. In the period before it comes into effect, the ministry will seek to have a bill on cannabis approved by Parliament to clarify several legal points.
The proposed Cannabis Act would allow only patients whose diseases can be eased with marijuana, such as cancer and depression, to grow the plants at home, said Tonnam Niyamapar, a member of The Alliance of Citizens’ Cannabis Association, a lobbying group. According to the report, he said that the act would also allow people to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. Flowers of the plant had been on the list of controlled drugs, so until now cannabis oil had been permitted only for treatments.