THE FUZZ

Since the good times began, growers, producers, dispensary owners, and smokers have been worrying about ever-more stringent ad hoc requirements or perhaps even re-criminalization.

Within days and weeks of the decriminalization of weed in Bangkok, weed trucks took to the street—driving through Nana, parked in Khaosan, thumping music in Thonglor. It was a popular way, especially for tourists, to grab an Instagram snap and a joint.

But along with vending machines and online sales, weed trucks, some still wet with their new 420 paint jobs, were a casualty of some of the first weed restrictions following decriminalization.

Nuttavat “Beam” Chuleekiet owns one of the few remaining weed trucks in Thailand—and it’s stationary. Due to relevant loopholes, Beam continues to operate Zaza Medical in J Avenue.

“I disagree,” Beam said when asked about the laws that ended weed trucks. “But I support that every seller needs to have a license and be educated.”

Beam echoes many of concerns held by those worried the weed boom has gone too far and too fast.

“Having a truck on the street everywhere made it uncontrollable and might enable teenagers or kids to reach cannabis easily without being educated first,” Beam says. “It does affect our sales but as a Thai citizen and stoner, we support control…I worry about many dispensaries taking advantage of new users.”

Even the progressive Move Forward Party has stated the current state of the weed laws must change. The original purpose of decriminalizing weed was for “medicinal” purposes and the government remains staunchly opposed to recreational use. In November, recreational smoking inside businesses was banned and flower buds became a controlled substance.

A September vote for clearer—and likely more strict— weed laws was kicked back for redrafting; now, with an election in the offing, business owners could be stuck with the current laws for some time.

In many dispensaries, proprietors refuse to roll a joint for you or sell pre-rolled joints worrying that it violates the laws for products and extracts. Decriminalization was never going to be a clear affair. Even when the laws are clear, enforcement can be, at best, capricious.

Commercial advertising, for example, appears to have been part of November’s spate of restrictions, but that can be hard to define, especially in terms of what constitutes a cannabis product—and, of course, who is doing the advertising.

Even the cops seem to be in on the weed boom. The police print and online magazine (pitakchon.com) is hailed as News Guardians of the Public Peace Police. Amongst the stretched, pixelated photos of the arrested are full page ads for dispensaries.