The comments came after the Thai health minister said he would meet his Malaysian counterpart during a meeting of APEC health ministers next week where Thailand will showcase its work in legalizing medicinal marijuana.

With a tradition of using cannabis to calm pain and fatigue, Thailand legalized medicinal marijuana in 2018, becoming in June the first Asian nation to decriminalize cultivation of marijuana and its consumption in food and drink.

"We are developing our own framework for the usage of cannabis for medical purposes, and want to learn from Thailand," the Malaysian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Malaysian government was interested in learning from Thailand's framework for medical use, he added.

The cultivation and recreational use of marijuana is now illegal in Malaysia, and possession of more than 200 grams of the drug entails a mandatory death sentence.

But Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has said the import and use of medical marijuana under a doctor's prescription is permissible if it is registered and licensed with the Drug Control Authority.

In April, Khairy said the government welcomed clinical studies for the medical use of cannabidiol, a chemical in cannabis that does not impart a "high" to users.

Last month, state news agency Bernama said the health ministry aimed to start registering some cannabidiol products next year after studying their safety, although approval for cultivation is still far off.

There was no immediate comment from Malaysia's law minister.

Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the main driver behind his country's legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, estimates the industry could be worth more than US$3 billion within five years.

"Topics of discussion will be on how to jointly move forward this kind of policy in order to create benefits, economically and medically," he told a news conference in Bangkok.

"We want everyone to recognize the property of this cannabis plant," he said on Wednesday. "The more people are interested in this field, more development and research [it] will create."

Thailand has said its cannabis policy covers medical and health purposes but not recreational use, although hastily issued laws have created space for such uses.  

 

No to potheads

Thailand's health minister on Wednesday discouraged tourists from visiting the country only to smoke weed, just two months after new laws were passed that have largely decriminalized the drug.

"We don't welcome those kinds of tourists," Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters when asked about recreational marijuana use among foreign visitors.

Despite the government's pleas against getting high, cannabis businesses with special smoking rooms have been a hit with locals and visitors.

But those smoking in public risk facing a three-month jail sentence or fines of up to 25,000 baht ($705.82).

Anutin's comments come even as foreign arrivals start to pick up in the tourism-reliant country. Southeast Asia's second-largest economy expects 8 million to 10 million arrivals this year, above an earlier forecast of 7 million.

Last year, the pandemic slashed foreign arrivals to just 428,000, compared with a record of nearly 40 million in 2019.

Thailand has focused its cannabis policy on the 28 billion baht industry built around its medical and health benefits.

Anutin said, however, recreational use could be explored once there was better understanding of the drug.

"It might come in the near future," he said.