With Thailand Just Legalising Weed, Some Food There Now Contain Weed & Taste Almost Similar

By
Charleen Teh
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Did you know that Thailand was the first Southeast Asian country to legalise marijuana in 2018?

If you didn’t, now you do.

Since then, Thai legislation regarding the recreational use of marijuana has been further relaxed.

In February 2022, marijuana was allowed in food and beverages, but it cannot contain more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—a psychoactive agent that can reportedly induce intoxication and sedation—by weight of product.

Additionally, these products must be clearly labelled to show that they contain marijuana.

Which is why you have to look carefully at the menus in Thailand, folks; the leaf symbol might be indicating cannabis usage instead of being a vegetarian option.

This might be worrisome for Singaporeans because cannabis consumption, regardless of the country it was ingested in, is a crime.

Reader: Will the judge accept the argument that it was an accident ah..?

Cannabis in Food and Beverages

For one Singaporean housewife who recently vacationed in Chiang Rai, she accidentally ate a bowl of noodle soup that contained cannabis.

She thought that it tasted “very nice” too.

The housewife only realised her mistake when she ordered the same dish the next day, and noticed a picture of a cannabis leaf next to the photo of the dish on the menu.

She was shocked by this revelation; besides the cannabis leaf symbol, there was no other indication that there was cannabis inside the dish.

In fact, she had mistaken the cannabis for kang kong, a vegetable known for its thin leaves and stalks, because it had been boiled in the soup.

Based on her account, she probably ate the cannabis as well, while being none the wiser. 

Honestly, the housewife can’t be blamed for not noticing it, there was so little marijuana present that it didn’t even caused obvious impairment to her mental faculties, or change the taste of the dish.

Proliferation of Cannabis in Various Products

Another Singaporean who was on holiday in Phuket also noted the ubiquity of cannabis-related products in local shops.

In the Patong Beach area, there were at least four cannabis speciality stores on a one-kilometre-long road.

Now that the cultivation and possession of cannabis has been decriminalised on 9 June 2022, the recreational use for the drug has exploded in popularity.

And it shows.

Aside from restaurants and specialty stores, marijuana can be found in convenience stores, supermarkets and bars, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Cannabis can also be found in hotpots, seasonings, and skincare.

Seriously, local tour agencies that are offering trips to Thailand may have to start putting a pre-emptive warning about accidental purchase and consumption of cannabis if this goes on.

It would be terrible if someone got stuck at Singapore customs, albeit unknowingly at first, because they accidentally brought back a product with marijuana.

A word of advice, travellers, always make sure to check the list of ingredients or double check with the waiter before buying or ordering anything.

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Featured Image: Instagram (@habitomall)

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Charleen Teh
Email: [email protected]