Photo/Illutration A worker tends to cannabis plants at a farm in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo)

BANGKOK--Thai authorities said Wednesday the country is taking further steps to tighten control of cannabis sales after the health minister signed an order banning sales of the plant to those without prescriptions.

Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022, in a move that boosted Thailand’s tourism and farming, and spawned thousands of shops. But the country has faced public backlash over allegations that under-regulation has made the drug available to children and caused addiction.

Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin on Monday signed an order that bans shops from selling cannabis to customers without a prescription. It also seeks to reclassify cannabis buds as a controlled herb.

Phanurat Lukboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said Wednesday that his agency is ready to study and implement the change in regulations.

The order is set to be effective as soon as it is published in the Royal Gazette, although it is unclear when this will happen.

The ruling Pheu Thai Party previously promised to criminalize the drug again but faced strong resistance from its former partner in the coalition government, the Bhumjaithai Party, which supported the decriminalization. Bhumjaithai quit the coalition last week over a leaked phone call between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and a former Cambodian leader Hun Sen.

Somsak told reporters on Tuesday that he would like to relist cannabis as a narcotic in the future. The move came after officials last month revealed that cannabis smuggling cases involving tourists had soared in recent months.

Phanurat said that a study done by his agency last year found the number of people addicted to cannabis had spiked significantly after it was decriminalized.

Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsab said in a statement Tuesday that the government ordered the Health Ministry to tighten control on sales of cannabis because “many shops opened to sell cannabis both for recreational and medical purposes, allowing easy access for children and general people, which contradicts the government’s purpose to crack down on drugs.”

A group of cannabis advocates said Wednesday that the change in regulations was politically motivated. The group said they will rally at the Health Ministry next month to oppose the change and the attempt to make it a criminal offense again to consume or sell cannabis.

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