Government House, July 10 – “Anutin” points out that bringing cannabis back to being a drug affects investor confidence after the government’s policy is unclear. If the cabinet is adjusted to control public health, what will happen? He reminds civil servants to set a standard and not to please the ministers. He declares that voting no at the ONCB level will not interfere with anyone. He asks the media not to think that they are being humiliated and to stick to reason as the main principle.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul, as leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, spoke about the case in which the Ministry of Public Health is preparing to bring cannabis back to the list of narcotics, to the meeting of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), saying that he and the Bhumjaithai Party do not agree with the Narcotics Control Board of the Ministry of Public Health because this board is the same board that advised him when he was the Minister of Public Health to remove cannabis from the lis
t of narcotics. And to remove cannabis from the list of narcotics, the minister cannot remove it; it must come from the advice of various boards.
Mr. Anutin said that when it was removed from the list of narcotics 2 years ago, it was this committee. So why would this committee bring it back to narcotics today? Most of them would say that as civil servants, they must follow the minister’s policies and why can’t I argue with them? Which is true, but I want to know that whatever you do must have principles. I was the Minister of Public Health for 4 years and no one said it was bad. And every month, the Ministry of Public Health took me to campaign on cannabis. There was no hospital that didn’t have a cannabis clinic. There was only support for cannabis in everything. At that time, I believed the doctor. That’s why I want to emphasize that if there is a Cannabis Act, everything will be over. Because don’t forget that when negotiating politics, we must support the policies of all the coalition parties. We don’t w
ant any problems. I’m not worried about cannabis. I’m worried about the overall picture. If it is changed frequently or changed according to the wishes of the executives, who will invest? We are accelerating to build economic strength.
‘One day, if the cabinet is adjusted, the Bhumjaithai Party will go back to look at the Ministry of Public Health again. I have to remove cannabis from the list of narcotics because it is the Bhumjaithai Party’s flagship policy. Civil servants must follow the minister’s guidelines, so they have to be removed from the list of narcotics as well. If investors like this, they will lose confidence, not just in the cannabis dimension, but also in other areas, which could affect the entire country. For example, if foreign investors come to ask if they want to invest in Thailand, will the laws change in every cabinet? If we say that they can change, who will come? Because investors want sustainability,’ said Mr. Anutin.
When asked how he would fight at the ONCB committee level, Mr. A
nutin said that he would not fight and had never fought anyone. Instead, he would use reasoning that he would lose the vote, but he would vote no. If he were to vote using the Interior Ministry’s resolution, there would only be 3-4 votes. He did not know whether the Interior Ministry’s Permanent Secretary would agree with him or not. How could we force everyone? He also said that he had never ordered anyone to vote according to his own discretion. Everyone must use their own discretion.
When asked if it was seen as a humiliation because the cannabis policy is the flagship policy of the Bhumjaithai Party, Mr. Anutin said that he did not see it as a humiliation because if it was seen as a humiliation, he would have joined the protesters against cannabis being a drug in front of Government House at this time. But this matter must be discussed with reason and the Bhumjaithai Party’s 2023 campaign policy does not include cannabis because we think everything will go well. But since he did not look at the Ministry
of Public Health, he could not set any policies.
When asked how he felt about following all the prime minister’s orders, including supporting the Pheu Thai Party’s policies, such as the digital wallet, the policy of allowing foreigners to lease land for 99 years, and allowing foreigners to buy 75% of condos, but the Bhumjaithai Party’s policies were humiliated, Mr. Anutin reiterated that he had already said that he was not humiliated. The media likes to ask people to have a problem with each other. He insisted that it was not a matter of humiliation or not humiliation because everyone has the right to think. Everything must be according to instinct. Today, he is not in charge of the Ministry of Public Health. How can he interfere with the policies of the Minister of Public Health? However, he does not want there to be a standard for any minister to come in and do whatever the minister wants. Instead, this matter should be made into a law or an act for sustainability.
Source: Thai News Agency