Government House, “Anutin” insists the issuance of the Cannabis Act is a victory for the people, not the Bhumjaithai Party, emphasizing that the party’s draft bill never included recreational use, and sees that if it is a good law, it will pass the Senate smoothly.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul spoke about the clarity on whether cannabis will be enacted as a law by the government or the parliament. He said that initially, the Ministry of Public Health must first be considered because he understood that a draft was submitted during the time of Dr. Cholanat Srikaew, the former Minister of Public Health. The Bhumjaithai Party had already submitted a draft. From what he had heard from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Phumtham Vejjayachai, he had suggested that he wanted a coalition government party or any party to have a draft to put together and then translate the motion in the parliament.
Mr. Anutin reiterated that we adhere to the Prime Minister’s command as
the most important, which has an order to find a way to issue a bill and not to use the channel of consideration through the Narcotics Control Board.
In this regard, it is seen that the return to enacting the bill is a victory for the Bhumjaithai Party. Mr. Anutin said that it is a victory for the people only. No matter what form it takes, we think of the benefits of the public first.
‘Stop thinking about it. Why do we have to compete when we work together? Everyone accepts each other by the numbers. The first party is the leader. The second, third, and fourth parties have 71 seats. What’s there to compete with when they have 150? If we think about it in simple mathematics, we should work together by accepting each other. We’ve seen everyone working hard already,’ said Mr. Anutin.
Mr. Anutin confirmed that the details in the draft bill of the Bhumjaithai Party are still the same, which never specified that it be used for recreational purposes. Even the announcements of the Ministry of Public Health or the
Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine never stated that it be used for recreational purposes. It is prohibited for use in children under 20 years old and is prohibited for use in educational institutions.
As for the confidence that he will be betrayed like the previous government, Mr. Anutin said that he is confident in the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has come down to give orders to this extent and is a government with 315 votes of support, unlike the previous government which had 253 votes of support.
If it passes the lower house, the upper house will not have a problem, right? Mr. Anutin said. If it is a good law, no law will have a problem. You have to ask the senators.
Source: Thai News Agency