re: "Health Ministry, agencies aim to deter recreational weed use" (BP, May 28, 2022)
Dear editor,
Why not simply legalize the growing, sale and use of hemp in any all forms by and for adults. The statistics from US states and and from nations that have done this in recent years suggest that society does not fall apart as a result. Is Thai society super-delicate and especially prone to disintegration in ways that other nations' are not? Is there some common genetic defect that would make Thais more prone to disaster by following the example of straight out legalization of marijuana for recreational use? Or is there a fatal flaw in Thai culture that would ensure catastrophic social collapse were marijuana legalized for adult use? I don't believe so.
However, it is entirely believable that criminal gangs currently getting rich of criminalizing personal acts, foolish though those acts might be, that do not directly harm or threaten to harm anyone else would object to the serious disruption that legalization would inflict on their incomes. Naturally, the Joe Ferraris who similarly get rich from prevailing drug policy would also object to legalizing personal activity that does not harm others absent their consent. Other than these two groups, it's hard to see why any other group could object to legalizing and similarly regulating any drug that is less harmful to society than alcohol is.
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 3, 2022, under the title "Just legalise it all" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2320166/just-legalise-it-all
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