Thailand starts banning the sale of cannabis without a prescription

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has started banning the sale of cannabis to those without a prescription, three years after becoming the first country in Asia to decriminalize the plant.

The new order, signed by Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin earlier this week, came into effect Thursday after it was published in the Royal Gazette. It bans shops from selling cannabis to customers without a prescription and reclassifies cannabis buds as a controlled herb.

Sellers that violate the new order could face a maximum one-year jail term and a 20,000-baht ($614) fine.

The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, in charge of enforcing regulations related to cannabis, held an online meeting Friday with officials across the country to prepare them for the change.

Officials said during the meeting that shops that are currently licensed can continue to operate but they must get their products only from pharmaceutical-grade farms that are certified by the department, and must declare sources of their products to authorities every month. Those farms must also acquire a license for selling cannabis. The order says shops can only sell a limited amount of cannabis to those with a prescription, enough for personal use in 30 days.

They also said the department is setting up clear guidelines for the prescription of cannabis and enforcement of the new regulations. They said they will give time for the shops to adjust, but did not say exactly how long that timeframe would be.

Chokwan “Kitty” Chopaka, a cannabis advocate who used to own a dispensary in Bangkok, said there is still a lot confusion about the new rules, with some officials themselves apparently unsure what to do.

“Owners are freaking out, a lot of them are scared,” she said.

The move to decriminalize in 2022 had boosted Thailand’s tourism and farming industries, and spawned thousands of shops.

But the country has faced public backlash over allegations that a lack of regulation made the drug available to children and caused addiction.

Treechada Srithada, spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said in a statement Thursday that cannabis use in Thailand would become “fully for medical purposes.”

She said shops that violate the order will be closed and the ministry will also tighten requirements for approval of a new license in the future. She said there are curently about 18,000 shops that hold a license to sell cannabis.

Chokwan argued that the rules were already in place, but what was lacking was the enforcement. She also said the abrupt change was politically motivated.

“We know we need regulation. We need control. The existing rule that is in the announcement previously needs to be enforced. Can we enforce that first? Before we move on to something that is harder and people don’t understand what’s going on,” she said.

The ruling Pheu Thai Party previously promised to criminalize the drug again, but faced strong resistance from its former partner in the coalition government, the Bhumjaithai Party, which supported decriminalization.

Bhumjaithai quit the coalition last week over a leaked phone call between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen. Health Minister Somsak signed the new order just days after Bhumjaithai left the government.

The move to restrict cannabis sales came after officials last month revealed that cannabis smuggling cases involving tourists had soared in recent months. Somsak told reporters Tuesday he would like to relist cannabis as a narcotic in the future.

Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board said a study conducted by the agency last year found the number of people addicted to cannabis had spiked significantly after it was decriminalized.

A group of cannabis advocates said they will rally at the Health Ministry next month to oppose the change and any attempt to make it a criminal offense again to consume or sell cannabis.

A staff arranges bongs at a cannabis shop after Thailand started banning the sale of cannabis to those without a prescription in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A pedestrian walks by the sign of a Cannabis shop after Thailand started banning the sale of cannabis to those without a prescription in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A staff prepares flower bud of marijuana for a customer at a cannabis shop after Thailand started banning the sale of cannabis to those without a prescription in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE -A worker tends to cannabis plants at a farm in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE--A customer sits outside a cannabis shop in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE- A staff prepares flower bud of cannabis for a customer at cannabis shop Bangkok, Thailand, July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)