Thailand had the opportunity to set the bar on cannabis reform for its Southeast Asia neighbors, but the nation of 72 million is now punting its three-year trial run on decriminalization.

Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin signed an order on June 23 banning Thailand’s 10,000 to 18,000 licensed stores from selling cannabis to those without a medical prescription, The Associated Press reported. Selling cannabis in violation of the order is punishable by up to one year in jail and a 20,000-baht (roughly $614) fine.

Thepsutin, whose order went into effect June 26, said the government intends to draft new regulations to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic on the ministry’s list of controlled drugs and require dispensaries to have doctors on-site to perform compliant medical sales, the Bangkok Post reported. Sales would be limited to a 30-day supply.

Thailand legalized medical cannabis in 2018, before becoming the first country in Asia to decriminalize adult-use cannabis in January 2022.

At the time, former Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board approved dropping cannabis from the country’s list of controlled drugs, setting up the de facto decriminalization of cannabis in the country. Later in 2022, Thailand’s government even implemented plans to provide 1 million cannabis plants to its citizens to encourage home cultivation.

Thailand’s 2022 cannabis decriminalization came amid a broader effort to amend the country’s drug laws to reduce its prison population.

Southeast Asia, in particular, has some of the world’s strictest drug laws and penalties. In 2023, Singapore hanged a 46-year-old man in connection with the trafficking of roughly 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis. Tangaraju Suppiah was sentenced to death in 2018 after a judge determined he was coordinating with traffickers attempting to smuggle cannabis into the country, Al Jazeera reported.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson claimed Suppiah never actually touched the cannabis in question, was questioned without a lawyer, and denied an interpreter, as reported by multiple news outlets.

A common argument made by cannabis legalization advocates in the U.S. is that no state has reversed course after legalizing adult-use cannabis. State-sanctioned programs in the U.S. have established regulatory frameworks focused on seed-to-sale tracking and compliant testing that prioritize public health and safety.

In Thailand, the Bhumjaithai Party was the driving force behind the country’s 2022 decriminalization effort. Although the Bhumjaithai Party was expected to spearhead legislation to clarify the legal status of cannabis afterward, the conservative populist Pheu Thai Party took over majority leadership in the government’s ruling coalition in 2023.  

In the three years since decriminalization, the Thai government has faced public backlash over an underregulated system and concerns related to youth access and addiction rates, ABC Australia reported.

Furthermore, the Bhumjaithai Party left the coalition to join the opposition party earlier this month over a leaked phone call indicating Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had mishandled diplomacy with Cambodia, which increased cross-border tensions, and over a cabinet seat dispute.

In turn, the Pheu Thai Party doubled down this week on its commitment to recriminalize cannabis.

Rattapon Sanrak, who owns a dispensary in Bangkok’s Khaosan District, told the Bangkok Post that the new rules under Thepsutin’s order will increase compliance costs, push licensed dispensaries out of business and allow the unlicensed market to thrive.

“These moves are political revenge, but it’s the public who’ll pay,” Sanrak said. “The majority of farms in the country are not yet certified by the government. And the products that don’t comply with the regulations that are in the pipeline will have nowhere to go but underground.”

Although licensed shops can continue to operate under the new order, they are required to obtain their medical cannabis products solely from farms that are approved by the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine.

Thai cannabis advocates with the Writing Thailand’s Cannabis Future Network plan to hold a rally on July 7 to protest the Public Health Ministry’s order.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was reportedly photographed reviewing a document that appears to be a draft contract to provide services—including “administration-related guidance”—to a firm affiliated with the major marijuana company Trulieve. The visible portion of the document describes a lucrative bonus if a certain “matter resolves,” with an “additional ‘Super Success Fee’” for other “exclusive policy remedies.”

Gaetz, who was President Donald Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general before he withdrew, was a rare example of a pro-legalization GOP congressman. He resigned from Congress amid unrelated controversies, but he remains a staunch Trump ally.

Details of the apparent agreement—first reported by The Daily Beast—are sparse, as the person who took a screenshot of Gaetz on his laptop during a flight was only able to capture a segment of it. It’s also unclear whether a firm hired by Trulieve sent him the proposed contract or if Gaetz himself was drafting it for consideration—and the company’s name is misspelled as “Truleive” in the available excerpt.

Marijuana Moment reached out to Trulieve and Gaetz for comment, but representatives were not available.

What the document seems to show, however, is a potential agreement where Gaetz would provide “legal representation,” “consulting” and “administration-related guidance” in lobbying efforts to a firm associated with Trulieve. It indicates that Gaetz would get $250,000 if the certain “MATTER resolves.”

What “matter” the document is referring to is unclear. But Trulieve has pushed for various federal reforms such as marijuana rescheduling and industry banking access. It also spent tens of millions of dollars on 2024 marijuana legalization ballot campaign in Florida that ultimately fell short.

The deal would also involve an additional “Super Success Fee” for “exclusive policy remedies,” but the exact dollar amount of that fee is cut off in the screenshot—with The Daily Beast reasoning that it is likely to read “$2,000,000″— and it’s not clear what those policies remedies entail.

The document was posted as a reply comment on a TikTok video that’s gained national attention for other reasons, with Gaetz captured reading text messages with his mother about foreign policy and personal finance issues.

@tidesofmarch Replying to @CυԃԃʅყDҽαԃKιƚƚყ ♬ original sound – 🤷🏽‍♀️💁🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

In a surprise development during Trump’s presidential campaign last year, he did endorse the Florida measure Trulieve backed, as well as federal rescheduling and allowing licensed cannabis businesses to access the banking system like other traditional companies. He’s been silent on the issue, at least publicly, since then.

Notably, Trump’s endorsement of the Florida initiative followed a meeting he had with Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, who also did not respond to a request for comment.

Unlike Trump, however, Gaetz did not back the Florida ballot measure. He didn’t speak to the merits of Amendment 3, but he said the reform should be enacted statutorily so that there’s more flexibility for the legislature to adjust the law in the future as opposed to via a constitutional amendment.

Trulieve contributed $750,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee following his election last November, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.

Combined with the $250,000 that another cannabis company, Curaleaf, donated to the inauguration via U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), Trump’s team took in at least $1 million from the marijuana industry ahead of his swearing-in ceremony for a second term.

Gaetz, for his part, has been particularly vocal about cannabis policy issues in recent months.

Just this week, the former congressman reiterated his own support for rescheduling cannabis—suggesting in an interview with a Florida Republican lawmaker that the GOP could win more of the youth vote by embracing marijuana reform.

Gaetz also said last month that Trump’s endorsement of a Schedule III reclassification was essentially an attempt to shore up support among young voters rather than a sincere reflection of his personal views about cannabis.

A survey conducted by a GOP pollster affiliated with Trump that was released in April found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms, including rescheduling. And, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.

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Meanwhile, Trump picked former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) to run DOJ, and the Senate confirmed that choice. During her confirmation hearings, Bondi declined to say how she planned to navigate key marijuana policy issues. And as state attorney general, she opposed efforts to legalize medical cannabis.

Adding to the uncertainty around the fate of the rescheduling proposal, Trump’s nominee to lead DEA, Terrance Cole, has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth.

During an in-person hearing before the Judiciary Committee in April, Cole said examining the rescheduling proposal will be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed for the role, saying it’s “time to move forward” on the stalled process—but again without clarifying what end result he would like to see.

DEA recently notified an agency judge that the proceedings are still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled. The matter sat without action before an acting administrator, Derek Maltz, who has called cannabis a “gateway drug” and linked its use to psychosis. Maltz has since left the position.

Amid the stalled marijuana rescheduling process that’s carried over from the last presidential administration, congressional researchers recently reiterated that lawmakers could enact the reform themselves with “greater speed and flexibility” if they so choose, while potentially avoiding judicial challenges.

Meanwhile, a newly formed coalition of professional athletes and entertainers, led by retired boxer Mike Tyson, sent a letter to Trump on Friday—thanking him for past clemency actions while emphasizing the opportunity he has to best former President Joe Biden by rescheduling marijuana, expanding pardons and freeing up banking services for licensed cannabis businesses.

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