เศรษฐศาสตร์การเมืองว่าด้วยปัญหาทางกฎหมายเกี่ยวกับการควบคุมกัญชาในประเทศไทย

Abstract

An Independent study entitled “Political Economy Study on Legal Problem of Marijuana Control in Thailand”, this issue, has the following objectives: 1) to investigate the history and framework of marijuana-related drugs using a political economic analysis framework that incorporates critical analysis, a holistic perspective, historical analysis, and conflict and conflict analysis, 2) to investigate the evolution of marijuana regulation in Thailand, including how it came about and who benefited or suffered as a result, and 3) to investigate the issues and impediments that marijuana-related law enforcement faces. A qualitative research technique was used, which included document research as well as in-depth interviews with 22people, including the official office of the narcotics control board (ONCB), The official of food and drug administration (FDA), or provincial public health office, Thai traditional medicine or applied Thai traditional medicine, pharmacists, nurses, agricultural professionals, community enterprise groups, drug suppression police, lawyers, patients, experienced cannabis users, and others related. The researcher examined Antonio Gramsci's leadership through the lens of political economics and Neo-Marxist theory including the notions of historical groups, power, and interest groups, as well as Roland Barthes' mythic theory, which the researcher employed as a springboard for thought. Marijuana regulation in Thailand is tied to political economics, owing to medicinal marijuana regulations, and it is related to power and the distribution of interests, according to the findings of the study. Numerous parties, including the governmental sector, the corporate sector, and the public, have been discovered to play a role, producing a power triangle in which many parties influence policy choices, the formation of stakeholders, and several important interest groups 4 big groupings. They are: 1. medical marijuana interest groups, 2. recreational cannabis interest groups, 3. political cannabis interest groups, and 4. cannabis interest groups in the field of economic crops. It has been discovered that the roles and activities of some organizations are inextricably linked to political power and are defined by overlaps between group interests and public interest. Even after the drug code of 2021 takes effect, marijuana remains a category 5 substance, according to the Ministry of Public Health's notification about the name of a category 5 drug for the year 2020. However, beginning on June 9, 2022, when the Ministry of Public Health announced that the whole cannabis plant and extract containing tetrahydrocannabinol, but not more than 0.2 percent, it shall be deemed not to be a category 5 narcotic. However, if the tetrahydrocannabinol content of an extract of the cannabis plant or the seeds of the said cannabis plant exceeds 0.2 percent or more, it is considered illegal because it is classified as a category 5 narcotic under the law, even if the cannabis plant is licensed for domestic cultivation. In terms of law enforcement concerns and impediments relating to marijuana, it was discovered that, from the perspective of law enforcement or officials engaged, it was a problem of avoiding the law by ostensibly being a patient, the issue of drug law fragmentation (The findings in the early stages of the study which is currently amended with the existence of the drug code of 2021), problems with marijuana's legal status when the new drug code takes effect in 2021, as well as concerns with law enforcement and officer performance. According to doctors and healthcare experts, there are issues with the regulation of medical cannabis usage, issues with the marijuana supply chain, and a lack of proof for the treatment of sickness. However, from the perspective of the patient, a lack of knowledge about medical cannabis, which has been linked to a lack of judgment when reading the news and listening to information about cannabis, has resulted in issues with its use and access to medicinal cannabis that were later proven to be incorrect. As a result, the Narcotics Act of 2019 (No.7) and Cannabis-Related Laws are vital instruments for the governing or elite to defend their control. In which the law is considered part of the upper social structure according to Karl Marx, and this cannabis law is also regarded as a public policy in terms of the country's medical and public health components, it arises from the influences of economy, law, politics, society, and culture, etc. that are interconnected with each other.